


Of Love, Lies and Quidditch

by SecretlyAGryffindor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friendship/Love, Humor, Quidditch, Second War with Voldemort, slightly AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-02-22 03:04:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 76,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2492138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretlyAGryffindor/pseuds/SecretlyAGryffindor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I hate Oliver Wood. I hate him with a passion. Why? Maybe it's because he was a pompous, Quidditch obsessed, git. I mean, I can understand loving Quidditch, but this guy lives and breathes it! And on top of that he has to have that adorable smirk that everyone seems to love; everyone but me of course, I pride myself in being completely immune to it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Train Rides and Flashbacks

**Hello all! Here is my Oliver Wood story (because there are not nearly enough of them out there). I am currently re-writing the story that I have posted on FF, because I started it so long ago, and there are things that need to change...but here is the re-written version! Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter...unfortunately.**

* * *

I made my way quickly to the Platform, wanting to escape the cold glares and awkward silences between my parents, both still seething from their fight in the car. Once I got onto the Platform I said a quick good bye to them, and gave them each a brief uncomfortable hug with a promise to write, and then I carried my trunk onto the gleaming red train that would be my escape.

Once onto the train, I looked quickly around for my friends, and luckily I found Angelina right away. She was sitting there with her head in a Quidditch magazine, typical Angelina. Her head shot up immediately when I opened the compartment and a wide grin spread across her features.

"Talli!" she cried.

"Ang!" I yelled, even though we had just seen each other two weeks ago it had been way to long…

We gave each other a quick hug then picked up my trunk (which was blocking the hall way-sorry first years who were awkwardly staring at it, too afraid to ask me to move it) and put it up onto the luggage rack.

"So what have you been up to the past few weeks?" she asked, her brown eyes gleaming.

"Nothing really, I practiced a my dives a little more, but other than that I sat in my room counting down the hours till I got to leave for Hogwarts…"

"That bad huh?" she asked sympathetically.

"Yeah…" I said, sighing, my parents got into moods when they would fight over the stupidest things, and over just about everything; generally they only lasted about a week or two, but it is not what I wanted to deal with my last few weeks home (especially when the argument had to do with how staying at work longer wasn't going to help them catch Sirius Black anyways), "What about you, what did you do?"

"I went to the Harpies game!" she said excitedly, launching into a play-by-play of the game, which I eventually started to tune out…(hey, I love Quidditch, but I was a little bitter that I couldn't go with her).

"Guys!" Alicia said, opening the door and running in to hug us.

"Alicia!" We cried, happy to see her (seriously, you would have thought we hadn't seen each other in years).

"What were you talking about?" she asked, tucking her brown hair back behind her ears.

"The Harpies game!" Angelina said grinning.

"Oh yeah, you were going to go to that! How was it?"

"Absolutely amazing!" she said, grinning.

"What have you done these past few weeks?" I asked.

"I got highlights!" she said, and I examined her hair closer, and found that, sure enough she had gold highlights in her hair.

"They look great!" said Katie, walking into the compartment, just as the train started moving.

"Katie!" we all said excitedly, she had been on vacation all summer so we hadn't seen her (therefore we had a valid excuse to scream like a pre-teen girl at a concert).

"You got somewhat tan!" Ang said, grinning.

"I know! It's amazing," Katie said laughing before getting up, "Shit! I need to the Prefects meeting, I will be back in a few though, the unlucky fifth years are the ones who need to patrol!"

We waved to her as she exited the compartment almost as quickly as she came.

The three of us had light random conversation for about ten minutes, before the Weasly twins were walking into the compartment, sitting down on either side of me, and disrupting our peace.

"Hello ladies," they said, smirking in a scary unison that only they could pull off.

"Hey!" we replied, smiling at them.

"You two have gotten even more freckles!" I said laughing and poking their faces, "I didn't think that was possible!"

"Just like we didn't think it was possible for you to grow after third year!" said Fred, "But somehow you managed to surprise us…"

"Besides that's what we get for spending all summer in Egypt," said George.

"Yeah, congrats on winning, that's pretty sweet," Alicia said, grinning.

"Did you guys have fun?" asked Angelina.

"Best summer of our lives," they said in unison (I swear it was a scary twin thing), "The amount of pranks that could be made…"

"Anyways, you guys want to take bets on how early we start Quidditch practice?" asked Fred, changing the topic.

"About three weeks," Angelina guessed.

"I'm guessing a month!" said Alicia, trying to be optimistic.

"I give him a week," said Fred.

"I give him three days," said George.

"I bet we start tomorrow, we don't need to hold try outs this year," I guessed, plus the season started in a month and a half, which for Wood, was  _way_  to soon.

"Fred wins," says the devil himself, as he walked into the compartment.

"Pay up!" said Fred and we all groaned and passed him two galleons, while the devil just sat there laughing.

"So, how were your summers?" Wood asked, and I started tuning out what they were saying, because I really couldn't have cared less about what Wood did this summer, it was probably just Quidditch anyways.

Unwillingly my thoughts started wonder, and of course they couldn't just go somewhere pleasant...Nope, they had to go to places that I was desperately trying to block out…

_I stood nervously in line while the sorting hat started it's song. I was so nervous that I was barely listening. I knew that one way or another I was going to upset one of my parents. My dad wanted me to be put into Slytherin like he was, and my mother wanted Ravenclaw._

_The song was over before I knew it and I watched as my peers were sorted into houses. When Professor McGonagall was in the Os I thought I was going to puke, and when she reached the Ps I decided I didn't really care which house I was in anymore, I just wanted it over with. I wanted to find a place that I could call my home away from home…just as my parents promised I would._

_"Prince, Tallison," the strict looking Professor called; I winced when she said my full name that I despised with a passion (I mean, wouldn't you?)._

_I walked up cautiously and the Professor put the battered old hat onto my head._

_"Hmmmm, you are very cunning and have ambition would do well in Slytherin, but I see you are very brave and have a very fierce loyalty…so where to put you...it better be GRYFFINDOR!"_

_The table on the far left erupted into cheers as I made my way over grinning. I took a seat next to Angelina the tall dark skinned girl I met on the train._

_"Hey!" she said, smiling brightly, and then pointing to a girl with shorter brown hair and freckles adding, "This is Katie! She's really nice!"_

_"Hi!" I said grinning, and she waved shyly back at me._

_We watched in silence as the sorting continued. Soon a girl named Alicia joined us. She had blonde hair and teal blue eyes. She was grinning widely as she came and sat next to the brown haired boy in the seat across from me._

_"I knew you'd make Gryffindor Ali!" he said, grinning at her._

_"Of course Ollie, where else would I go?" she asked laughing, they clearly had known each other for a long time, then she addressed us three girls, "Hello, I'm Alicia Spinnet."_

_"I'm Angelina," Angelina said, grinning happily._

_"I'm Talli," I said, with a shy smile._

_"Isn't your real name Tallison?" the boy named 'Ollie' asked._

_"Yes but I absolutely detest that name, so please call me Talli," I said, then smirking I added, "You're Ollie right?"_

_"It's Oliver."_

_"Okay, Ollie."_

_Alicia was laughing, and Angelina was trying to hold her laughter in._

_"I'm Katie," she said, stopping our arguing from going any farther._

_"Hello!" Alicia said, and we all grinned resuming our attention back to the sorting._

_"Weasly, Fred!" Professor McGonagall called, and I watched nervously as one of the redhead twins made their way forward._

_The sorting hat lasted hardly a few seconds before crying out, "GRYFFINDOR!"_

_I clapped, grinning, as he came and sat next to me, grinning widely, "I told you I'd be in Gryffindor Tal."_

_I stuck my tongue out at him, and we turned just in time to see the hat cry "GRYFFINDOR!" for his brother._

_I was happy that the twins were in the same house as me. I had known them growing up because our mothers had grown up living next to each other, so naturally they became friends. I had grown up close with all of the Weasly family, I basically considered them my brothers, and in Ginny's case my sister. I was so grateful to have familiar faces in my house._

_"So Tallison, do you play Quidditch?" dear old Ollie asked._

_"I do Ollie; I'm seeker, what about you?"_

_"I do, I'm keeper, and don't call me Ollie," he said, his Scottish accent evident._

_"Then don't call me Tallison," I said._

Needless to say, we did not get along for the rest of the year; we would always call each other Tallison or Ollie, simply to get on the others nerves. Apparently the only people allowed to call him Ollie were Alicia and his mother, but I hadn't really cared. That really is what started are immense dislike for each other. Over the years it only seemed to escalate.

Second year wasn't much better, I had to deal him at Quidditch practice, and he was always cocky and yelling at the team. I of course would yell back, I mean who died and made him captain? No one, so he had no right to boss us around (at least I didn't think so).

Third year was hell, he actually became Quidditch captain and practice became harder and more often. It was also the year we ended up calling each other by our last names (since the whole first name thing had stopped becoming annoying, it was just something we were used to). Luckily for me though, the other two chaser spots opened and Angelina and Alicia joined the team. Basically, Wood and I could not be in the same room as each other, and the only time we could be somewhat civil to each other was at Quidditch, and that was only because we wanted to win too much.

Nothing really changed until last year (except for maybe more arguments and better comebacks and insults). We decided that we should try and be civil, we had similar friend groups, and there really was no avoiding each other (yeah, it took us awhile to reach this conclusion…but at least we got there…). That worked well for us until after the last Quidditch game.

_I landed and ran towards him, giving him a huge hug! I could not believe we just won, we really did it! He picked me up and swung me around, laughing in celebration, before we walked towards the changing rooms hand in hand._

_I honestly could not believe that we had hated each other for four years, especially now that he was one of my best friends! After changing quickly out of our robes and back into normal clothes we walked back to the common room where we parted ways to get ready for the party that Fred and George had planned for it we going to won the Quidditch cup (again)._

_I got ready fairly quickly, picking out a cute summer dress to wear to the party before straightening my curly blonde hair. I quickly put up some make up on before I made my way down to the common room to look for Oliver. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, excited for the night ahead, and the dance. My eyes scanned the room for him; and ohhh did I find him. Of course, when I spotted him, he had some seventh year blonde bimbo on his lap who was sucking his face like it was the last thing she was ever going to do. I blinked back the tears and went over to the refreshments table where grabbed a fire whiskey bottle and took a huge swig of it, before walking over to Wood and dumping my drink 'accidentally' all over them._

_Oliver looked up and glared at me and I just smiled my sweet little smile._

" _Sorry, I didn't see you there," I said, feigning innocence._

" _Really Prince?" he said, glaring at me, the bimbo just sat there grinning happily._

" _Really Wood, why on earth would I dump a perfectly good fire whisky on you? It would be a complete waste," I asked, cocking my eyebrow at him._

" _Because you're jealous," he state, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world._

" _Definitely not. What is there to be jealous of?"_

" _Yes you are, don't even deny it. You're jealous of Marianna here because it's her who I'm making out with; not you."_

" _Where the hell did you get that assumption?"_

" _Because you thought that we were dating, but honestly I was just making the team better. You couldn't catch the snitch while you were sulking over that loser Chris. I couldn't let that effect the team, so I decided to cheer you up. There really was no better way to do it, then to be 'in a relationship' with you."_

_I just pretended to laugh, but inside it hurt like a bitch, "Really though, where'd you pull that assumption out of? Your ass? You were really just a 'friend' with benefits to me."_

_So that might have been a lie, but really, he never had to know that. I turned and walked away before he could respond._

"Tal," Angelina whispered poking me with her foot, "You're glaring at your magazine again."

I just chuckled, "I still can't believe that the French won the cup, I never saw that coming! I really wish it had been Bulgaria. I mean have you seen Viktor Krum?"

"I know!" Angelina gushed, "I could just eat him up!"

We both giggled.

"What are you two giggling about?" asked George, turning to face me.

"How unbelievably sexy you are," Ang said, chuckling and winking at him.

"I know, I am absolutely ravishing," he said, winking back at her.

"Oh my gosh, your brother is absolutely terrible!" Katie said walking into the compartment looking extremely irritated, "The Prefects meeting went like a half an hour longer than I thought it would!"

"We know we could hear him practicing his speech all summer…we could probably have just told you it ourselves and saved you the trouble," said Fred, laughing.

"Hey guys," Lee said, walking in with his girlfriend of a year.

"Hey Lee, Joy," Alicia says, smiling, but something about her smile is fake.

"So what were you guys talking about?" asked Joy.

"Viktor Krum's bum," I said grinning devilishly.

"I think that he has got to have the best bum in all of Quidditch!" Alicia said, and we girls laughed, while the four guys just rolled their eyes.

"Oh..." Joy said, not looking very interested in the topic of our conversation, "Are you guys excited for Quidditch practice to start?"

"Yes!" answered Wood, excitedly (you would think he was a little kid on Christmas).

"I am too, I think that we might be pretty good this year," she said, she was seeker on the Ravenclaw team, "Though you guys have the advantage of not needing any new players…"

"Yeah that is true, but that doesn't mean that I won't work them any less," he said, sending a pointed look around the compartment.

At this pointed I had really stopped listening (again), and I had pulled out my current book, and started reading (I would have continued reading Angelina's magazine, but Katie took it). Alicia seemed to have the same idea because she soon took out her Quidditch magazine and was flipping through pages.

Their conversation continued for almost the entire train ride, and by the end, I don't think anyone but Lee was listening to Joy; I mean, wow, I thought me and my friends could talk.

The only time she stopped was when the Dementors came onto the train, checking all of the compartments. An instant chill had taken over the compartment, and I could instantly feel all of my happiness drain out of my body.

"Do you think they're looking for Black?" Katie asked, looking confused.

"That's the only thing I can think of…" George said, "But that doesn't make sense…why would Sirius Black be on the Hogwarts Express?"

"I have no idea…" I responded, "It doesn't make sense, why would he want to go to Hogwarts, it's not as though he would ever actually get into the castle."

"Just like he would never actually escape Azkaban…" Angelina pointed out.

With that thought we all sat there quietly. I was contemplating what would happen, if Black did try and break into the castle, what would happen. The thought made me sick to my stomach, I did not like the idea of a mad man running around on the loose, especially one that was such an avid follower of You-Know-Who.

Eventually the train was pulling into the station, pulling us out of our thoughts, and we pushed our way through the crowd so that we could get a carriage to ourselves. Luckily, we eventually found one.

"I am so hungry!" Ang complained.

"Aren't you always?" I asked, laughing.

"That's not the point," she said, grinning.

"Of course not…" Katie said grinning.

"So Katie how was France?" I asked, not having had the chance to talk to her on the train.

"It was so beautiful! You guys would have loved all of the gorgeous French guys!" she gushed, blushing slightly.

"Any summer lovin'" asked Angelina, waggling her eye brows.

"Well, there was one guy…" she said, blushing an even deeper shade of red.

"And you failed to mention this in any of your letters?" Alicia said, "I want details! Like now!"

We all giggled and she launched into her story about her summer romance with Anton, like eating under the Eiffel Tower and sipping champagne (Anton was a Muggle…which was something that she found very fascinating).

"So you two still together?" I asked, curiously.

"No…" she said with a sigh, "It would have been to hard…"

We all nodded, and then changed the topic back to the Harpies game Angelina had been at.

Soon enough the carriage pulled to a stop and we climbed out into the crisp air and walked quickly inside to the magnificent Great Hall, taking our seats near the middle of the table on the farthest left, and waited for the small first years to make their way into the Great Hall. Each of us looking around still stunned by the beauty of the hall, even after six years.

As the sorting ceremony started I sat dazed, staring at my plated, hungrily (I really did need to learn how to pay attention to the sorting).

"Why does this sorting seem like its lasting forever?" asked Angelina in my ear.

"Because it is…" I mumbled back, earning a few glares from the studious Ravenclaws that were actually paying attention and of course from Percy Weasly (but he had a permanent stick up his ass so I wasn't overly concerned about annoying him).

We were instantly snapped out of our thoughts when Dumbledore began talking about how the Dementors were going to be stationed around Hogwarts, just as a precaution. It really got me thinking about what they thought Sirius Black's fascination with Hogwarts was. I made a mental note to see if my father could tell me anything.

We sat there for another five minutes until finally the food appeared on platters in front of us. All of us girls helped our selves to the food closest to us, not really caring what it was.

"Wow, I thought us boys were bad…" said Fred, looking at us in amazement, and also disgust.

George just nodded, and then they shared a look and started eating.

Soon we were all stuffed, and we made our way to the common room, having gotten the password from Katie. We snagged the seats closet to the fire, and continued to talk about our summers. It was all quite peaceful until Wood decided to show up with his new flavor of the week. This would have been just fine if he did not feel the urge to suck face with her right next to me.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm afraid I might catch a disease if I sit to close to him. I am going to bed."

And with that I marched up the steps to the girls' dorm, and all the way to the top of tower where the 6th year dorms were. I changed quickly into my boy shorts and tank top before falling on my bed and falling asleep, but not before reassuring myself I was not jealous, just thoroughly disgusted.

 

 


	2. Of Potions and Practice

The next morning I woke up, and found I was surprisingly refreshed and awake; which I was pretty sure was a first, especially on a Thursday morning. I could hear Katie and Angelina in their beds tossing and turning trying to ignore the fact that they had to get up at 6:30 in the morning, while I could hear Alicia get up and make her way to the bathroom, and into one of the four showers; which were charmed so that you couldn't see anything from the outside. Let me tell you that came in handy when all four of us were in there and needed to shower, there are just some things that you really don't want to see that early in the morning. Plus, there was even a little locker to put our towels and dry clothes in so that they wouldn't get wet. But enough about the showers, I really needed to get up. So I rolled, yes I actually rolled (I said I was refreshed, not that I was happy to be up this early), out of bed and landed not so gracefully on the floor with a thump. Groaning I sat up and started to think about what I was going to wear that day (aka, I was procrastinating having to start moving), at least I was until I remembered that I had class today and therefore needed to wear my uniform. I stood up and walked over to where my truck was at the end of my four-poster bed and opened it, digging through it to find my bra and underwear. The ones I picked were red (Gryffindor spirit for the first day of class and all), then grabbing a towel I made my way over to the bathroom and got into the shower that I had claimed as mine in first year, it was the one on the end, closest to the door (and let me tell you, I really had to fight Alicia for it). Katie and Angelina soon entered the bathroom, grumbled a good morning before they got into their showers.

After about a twenty-minute shower I turned off the warm water and dried off, before putting on my undies and making my way out of the bathroom and towards my trunk to find my school uniform. This was not an easy task, as I had just thrown everything in there when I was packing. Eventually I found my skirt, then the white blouse, the black cloak and finally the red and gold tie. I quickly put on my uniform and looked in the mirror, before running back to my trunk and grabbing my white socks.

I shook my head at the overly baggy blouse and the way-too-long skirt, and started the annual uniform adjustments; Alicia was next to me doing the same thing. I made my skirt shorter, but only to a few inches above my knee, and then I tightened my blouse a little to show off my features. Okay to show off my bust…not that it was completely possible in these hideous shirts. Next I tied my tie loosely around my neck and made my way back into the steamy bathroom to fix my hair and do my make-up.

I quickly outlined my green eyes with a little black liner, then added a little gloss and reached for a hair band.

"Leave your hair down," Alicia ordered, walking into the bathroom.

"Fine," I said, but still pulling back my bangs (I was not taking a risk that they would actually dry how I wanted them too).

Soon we were all ready looking cute and ready for a first day of class, we had even finished packing our bags, before we remembered that we need to figure out what shoes to put on, which was surprisingly hard to do (we might have a slight shoe problem in our room).

"Red and gold?" I asked Katie, and she nodded.

Both of us made our way towards out trunk and I pulled out my red pair of converse while she pulled out her gold pair, and then we swapped one for one, happy that we had the same shoe size. Everyone always found this surprising though, considering I was short and Katie was a normal height. Luckily for me though, she had small feet. Alicia and Angelina ended up doing the exact same thing (Alicia with the red pair and Angelina with the gold) we had each gotten the last year for house pride; and it didn't help that all four of us had a thing for converse.

We all quickly made our way to the table, sitting down next to Fred and George.

"You are all matching…" said Fred, laughing at us, "Seriously?"

"It's the first day of class, we need to show our house pride!" Angelina argued, and we all nodded in agreement.

The boys just rolled their eyes, but we were spared a response because Professor McGonagall was walking around and passing out our timetables. Once we all received ours, we immediately started to compare and trying to figure out who we were suffering through our classes with.

"On Monday I have double Potions first, then I have Care of Magical Creatures, then lunch, and afterwards I have double Charms. On Tuesday I have Transfiguration, then free period, lunch and then I have DADA and then another free period. On Wednesday I have Care of Magical Creatures first, and then I have double Transfiguration, and a free afternoon, until Astronomy later that night. Thursday I have double Potions, Transfiguration, lunch Charms and DADA and Friday I have Potions then Care of Magical Creatures and I'm done," I said, slightly out of breath at the end.

"I have all the same classes accept for Astronomy," Alicia said, grinning at me.

"I do too, but I have Divination on Tuesday before lunch, and Wednesday after lunch," Angelina said.

"Same only instead of Divination I have Arithmancy, why on earth did you continue to take that class? It might actually be the most pointless class you are ever going to take…" Katie trailed off.

"Because she amuses me with her craziness!" Angelina said, laughing.

"Well I have the same classes as you do Talli, so does Georgey boy over here," Fred said, "What about you Lee?"

"I have the same as Katie and Ang, except I took Muggle Studies instead," Lee said grinning, "It's such an easy class…"

"Well I would hope so considering you're Muggle born!" George said laughing at Lee's antics.

Lee just glared at his friend jokingly in response.

"I suppose we better go to Potions, I don't fancy having a detention on the first day back," I say with a sigh, everyone else nodding.

As we made our way slowly down to Potions and I prepared myself for this worst, knowing that Snape would make this year hell. I kept telling myself that if I possibly wanted to be an Auror (read if I didn't play Quidditch professionally) I needed Potions, sadly.

"Why did I take this class again?" Katie grumbled, taking her seat next to me in the dimly lit room.

"Because you want to be a healer, so you need it," I said, chuckling as she glared at me.

"It was a rhetorical question…you were not supposed to answer!" she teased.

Shortly after that Snape walked into the classroom, and sucked all of the happiness out of the room. His typical black cloak was billowing behind him, and I could have sworn I saw his disgustingly greasy black hair move in the wind.

"When I tell you, you are to move to your seat with your partner," he said in his monotone voice, "Don't try to switch partners, it won't work, you will be partners all year (the smirk he had on his face really frightened me) Mr. Weasly (he glared at Fred, indicating he was talking to him) you will be partnered with Miss Flint, and you will sit in the front right two desks, Mr. Weasly you will be partnered with Mr. Rowle and you will be in the front left two desks, behind them will be Mr. Lee and Miss Johnson, and across from them will be Miss Prince and Mr. Nott, behind them will be Mr. Rosier and Miss Spinet, and across from them will be Miss Bell and Miss Yaxley. Now, look up at the board for your notes, you have the rest of the class to finish your potion. I will not be as much of a help this year (I had to hold back a snort, since when was he a help?). This is a NEWT level class, and how some of you (cue glare at all the Gryffindors) got into this class I will never know, but I assure you if you fall behind this year you will not be allowed back into this class next year. Now get to work."

You could hear audible groans from around the class, and I could have sworn I saw Snape smirk (he really did get joy out of this).

I made my way slowly to my seat, hardly picking my feet up off of the floor, I could tell Wes was just as thrilled to be working with me, you see we absolutely hated each other. I hated him more than I hated Wood, and that was saying something (reading saying a lot). The reason behind this immense dislike? He was the Slytherin Seeker (aka my rival).

He just grunted as I sat down, and I just glared, before I started taking notes. We were making the Draught of Living Death. Nott sat there and did absolutely nothing.

"Are you going to get the ingredients?" I asked, knowing what the answer would be.

He just sneered at me so I got up and made my way to the back of the room, I knew that this potion was going to be on me, and if I didn't need to do well in this class I would have enjoyed watching him fail.

At the end of class Snape walked around, criticizing everyone's potions, I was immensely curious about what he would say about mine seeing as it was the right color, black. I honestly couldn't think about what he could tell me to change…but I knew he would think of something.

"Five points from Gryffindor," he said, and I could have sworn I saw him smirk again.

"Why?" I asked, trying not to glare.

"You didn't allow Mr. Nott help with the brewing of the potion, there is no need to show off," he said, and he most definitely smirked then.

You would think being distantly related to someone would make them somewhat like you, but that was not the case between Snape and me, in fact he hated me. And let me tell you, the feeling was definitely mutual.

The rest of the day passed relatively slow though. I instantly knew that I was going to be begging Katie to help me in Transfiguration, and that I was going to beg Angelina or one of the twins for help in Potions (I could brew the Potions, but for the life of me I could not write the essays). Yes, surprisingly the twins were amazing at Potions; they just never showed it in class, because they could be put onto Snape's good side (if Gryffindors could be on his good side-I really doubted that was possible), I snorted at the idea of that happening. I was thankful that I was good at Charms, and Defense; we had finally gotten another professor, who seemed like he might do a good job! We hadn't had one for two years, and I was excited to actually learn something that might be useful! Professor Lupin was going to be good though, I could just tell. I knew he would actually help me learn something in that class.

Friday's classes were good too (other than Potions first, but that is a given; that class was never enjoyable). Care of Magical Creatures was a blast with Hagrid! That afternoon I was able to finish all of my homework for the weekend; and it was the weekend, so you could say I was greatly looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday (I am not a fan of getting up early for classes). But that of course would have been too easy.

I was happily sitting and eating a peaceful dinner with the girls, the twins and Lee, when Wood showed up, I should have known that was not a good sign. He had a smile on his face that simply screamed 'I am about to ruin Talli's life'.

"We are practicing tomorrow morning at 7," he said, sitting down across from me.

"Why?" Alicia said, looking out raged, "What happened to a week?!"

"The Slytherins have already started practicing, we can't let them get too far ahead of us!" he said, trying to rationalize it.

"Why does it have to be at 7 in the bloody morning?" I asked, glaring, I hated morning practices.

"Because, the pitch is booked for the Hufflepuff try outs tomorrow, they start at nine," he said, "But I would gladly start earlier if you would like."

And then he smirked and I glared, while Angelina said, "Hell no!"

"Hey Fred," George said, grinning like an idiot, "Pay up…"

Fred groaned and pulled out the moneybag from the train ride and handed it to George.

"Talli, Angelina WAKE UP!" Alicia said, Katie had just been reluctantly pulled out of bed by her feet.

"Why?" Angelina grumbled, "It's too early. The sun is barely up yet…"

"We have practice in a half an hour, and it takes ten minutes to get down to the pitch!" Alicia said, frustrated with our inability to get up.

I groaned and all of a sudden I was hit with water. And let me tell you, it was not warm water, or even cold water for that matter, it was right about freezing!

"ALICIA!" I shrieked, jumping out of bed, now fully awake.

"Yes?" she asked sweetly, as she pointed her wand at Angelina to give her the same treatment.

"I FUCKING HATE YOU!" Angelina yelled, throwing off her covers, yeah she was definitely a cheerful person in the morning can you tell?

After we were all dressed, in our shorts and tank tops, we made our way to the pitch, carrying our brooms. When we got out to the pitch we found everyone else was already there, and Wood was tapping his foot impatiently on the ground.

"You guys are-" he started, but I cut him off.

"Right on time."

He looked down at his watch and glared at me, knowing I was right, it was now my turn to smirk.

"Okay, let's start by running around the pitch twice, then we'll start with some practice drills," he said, and we all nodded.

And all of us (including Wood) started jogging and I knew this was going to be a long ass practice.

We ended up practicing until the Hufflepuffs showed up, kicking us off of the field. We then made our way to the Black Lake, and swam. Yes we swam in our clothes. This happens more often than not. We were normally too lazy to go back up to the dorm and change, and it was much too nice of a day not to swim.

So that was how we spent the rest of our Saturday. Jumping in and out of the lake, playing chicken and having different competitions. When we weren't in the water we were sitting under the tree and simply catching up and talking about nothing.

After a long day of swimming we made our way to our dormitories, showered and collapsed onto our beds, tired from the day of practice and swimming. I was quite proud of myself; I managed not to make sarcastic comments to everything Wood said (only some things). Which happens to be a first since our little issue at the end of sixth year.

I landed and ran towards him, giving him a huge hug! I could not believe we just won, we really did it! He picked me up and swung me around, laughing in celebration, before we walked towards the changing rooms hand in hand.

I honestly could not believe that we had hated each other for four years, especially now that he was one of my best friends! After changing quickly out of our robes and back into normal clothes we walked back to the common room where we parted ways to get ready for the party that Fred and George had planned for it we going to won the Quidditch cup (again).

I got ready fairly quickly, picking out a cute summer dress to wear to the party before straightening my curly blonde hair. I quickly put up some make up on before I made my way down to the common room to look for Oliver. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, excited for the night ahead, and the dance. My eyes scanned the room for him; and ohhh did I find him. Of course, when I spotted him, he had some seventh year blonde bimbo on his lap who was sucking his face like it was the last thing she was ever going to do. I blinked back the tears and went over to the refreshments table where grabbed a fire whiskey bottle and took a huge swig of it, before walking over to Wood and dumping my drink 'accidentally' all over them.

Oliver looked up and glared at me and I just smiled my sweet little smile.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there," I said, feigning innocence.

"Really Prince?" he said, glaring at me, the bimbo just sat there grinning happily.

"Really Wood, why on earth would I dump a perfectly good fire whisky on you? It would be a complete waste," I asked, cocking my eyebrow at him.

"Because you're jealous," he state, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Definitely not. What is there to be jealous of?"

"Yes you are, don't even deny it. You're jealous of Marianna here because it's her who I'm making out with; not you."

"Where the hell did you get that assumption?"

"Because you thought that we were dating, but honestly I was just making the team better. You couldn't catch the snitch while you were sulking over that loser Chris. I couldn't let that effect the team, so I decided to cheer you up. There really was no better way to do it, then to be 'in a relationship' with you."

I just pretended to laugh, but inside it hurt like a bitch, "Really though, where'd you pull that assumption out of? Your ass? You were really just a 'friend' with benefits to me."

So that might have been a lie, but really, he never had to know that. I turned and walked away before he could respond.

I was livid. I was not one to let anyone walk all over me, particularly some stupid guy. So I decided, I needed to get even. I scoped out the room, looking for no one in particular, and when my eyes found Chris' an idea hit me. I knew it was too good not to do, which was probably not a good sign... I knew that Chris was angry at me, but I knew we had one major thing in common, we both hated Wood, that was part of the reason we had started dating in the first place. Chris still held a grudge over Wood from when he beat him for the spot on the Quidditch team, in his third year and Oliver's second. It sort of damaged his ego. So when I started to 'date' Wood I could tell it just killed him, but Wood had seemed nice, and Chris had cheated, so I figured it wouldn't matter. But now I knew he would help me.

"Hey Chris," I said sweetly.

"Hi Talli," he said, looking at me funny, maybe I had said that a little to sweetly...

"Want to do me a favor?" I asked, still in that sickly sweet tone.

"What do you want?" he asked, slightly curious about what I wanted, I could tell because he got that same glint in his ocean blue eyes whenever we talked about something he was interested in, "What can I do for you that Wood can't? He is your boyfriend, after all."

"Woods not my boyfriend, and you can help me get back at him," I said, seductively.

"How?" he said, stepping closer to me.

And then I kissed him, and hard. I put all of my anger and frustration towards Wood into that one kiss, and let me tell you there was quite a bit of that. When we broke apart gasping for air, I turned and caught a glimpse of Wood, with some unknown emotion in his eyes. I wondered what it was briefly before turning back to Chris.

"Let's dance," I said, not leaving his side all night.

Chris and I ended up dating into part of the summer until we decided we no longer had much in common, other than our hatred towards Wood so we broke it off, staying friends. And with that bittersweet memory I fell into a deep slumber. Having weird dreams about Wood (yuck!), Chris (weird), Viktor Krum (very random, but enjoyed, haha) and Quidditch.


	3. Of Letters and Running

It was Monday morning I was sitting in the Great Hall enjoying my lovely breakfast of French toast when the post arrived. I was very surprised to see an owl land in (yes in) my French toast. I frowned, seeing as I could no longer eat my breakfast, but I grinned when I recognized who it was from.

Talli-

Sorry it has taken me so long to write to you. Things are crazy here at the Ministry. We are trying to figure out the best location for the Quidditch World Cup, seeing as it is being held in Britain this year! Anyways, working in the Department of Magical Games is a lot of fun, if playing Quidditch doesn't work for you, I would definitely recommend it! I get to go to most of the Quidditch matches; the match between the Harpies and the Tornados was brilliant! (I glared at the parchment, jealous that he was able to go to a Harpies game) I know you are probably glaring right now, but don't worry, I will try and get you and the girls tickets to a game sometime! (this made me grin) Anyways, how is 6th year? I hope Wood isn't giving you too much trouble, and if he is I will gladly beat him up for you. But then again, you have probably already done that… (This made me chuckle, and earned me several funny looks from the people sitting around me, including Wood) Anyways, write back! I want to know how school is without me! And send me the Hogsmeade dates, maybe I'll come and visit! Or if you have the dates for the Quidditch games, I would love to come and see you play!  
-Chris

"Whose it from?" Alicia asked curiously.

"Chris!" I said grinning, and I saw Wood stiffen out of the corner of my eye, but I decided to ignore it.

"How's he?" Katie asked.

"He's great! He loves working with the Department of Magical Games; he's helping to pick the location for the Cup!" I said excitedly.

"Do you think he could get us tickets?" Angelina asked, with a hopeful look on her face.

"He didn't mention anything about the Cup, but he told me he would get us tickets to a Harpies game!" I said, squealing, the Harpies were our favorite team.

"NO WAY!" Alicia screeched, earning her many glares from the un-suspecting people who were still half asleep.

I could not help but to chuckle, "WAY!"

"What the bloody hell was that screech for Alicia?" asked Fred as he and George made their way over and sat next to us.

"CHRIS MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET US HARPIES TICKETS!" she screamed, and she got quite a few 'shhhs' from everyone around, including the normally kind Hufflepuffs.

She rolled her eyes and George replied, "Really? Why would you want to go to a Harpies game? The Tornados are clearly so much better."

We all turned and glared at him while Katie countered, "That's why Harpies creamed them last week?"

It was George's turn to glare, and we all giggled.

"Come on, let's go to double Potions," I said, sadly.

Every one nodded and we all got up and started to make our way to the dungeons when we were stopped by none other than Oliver Wood, who had gotten up and followed us out of the Great Hall.

"We have practice tonight at 7, if you're late you will run an extra two laps," he said moodily, before walking away.

Potions class was hell. And that was putting it nicely. Dumbass (Nott) decided that he would blow up our Potion today, for no apparent reason (I mean it wasn't even before a Quidditch match!) so naturally, I got a detention for it. What did Nott get? One would think a detention too, but no, he just got an apology for having me as a partner! He was the one who blew up the bloody potion! Now I had detention tomorrow night, most likely with Flich too. And now I had to scrub (yes scrub, heaven forbid I be allowed to use a wand!) the mess, while Nott got to stand there and watch, wearing a nasty smirk on his face. He was supposed to be helping me, but we all knew that wouldn't be happening, and Snape wouldn't tell his star Quidditch player that he needed to help.

Once the bell rang I booked it out of the class so I could go and shower quickly, even though it would make me late to Care of Magical Creatures. I figured that Hagrid would understand. I was hoping that the common room would be empty, seeing as everyone should be in class, but of course, luck was not on my side this morning. I was almost at the staircase for the girls' dorms, when I heard I deep chuckle from the other side of the room.

I turned and glared at whoever it was, which made them only laugh harder.

"What did you do? Dump your potion on yourself?" he asked his deep voice with his heavy Scottish accent, was full of laughter.

I was very thankful that I did not blush very easily because I knew I would have been bright red, "Nott, being the dumbass he is, decided to blow up our potion."

The laughter in his eyes was evident, "And you got that much of it on you?"

"No, I had to clean it up…So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to shower, I would actually fancy getting to Care of Magical Creatures before the class ends."

With that I walked up the stairs, my head held high, I would not let him know I was embarrassed, he'd just get the wrong idea. The last thing I wanted was for the school to think that I fancied him. I shuddered at the thought, thinking about how stupid and naïve I was last year.

I ended up getting to Care of Magical Creatures 40 minutes late, but luckily Angelina had explained what had happened, so all I got was a sympathetic look from Hagrid.

As Care of Magical Creatures finished up I made my way to lunch, pulling out parchment to reply to Chris' letter.

Chris!

The Department of Magical Games sounds like a lot of fun! Maybe if I don't get into Auror training (and with Potions that is always highly likely) or to be a Quidditch player I'll join you there! I hope that you find a place soon! Keep me posted on that! I am so jealous that you got to go to the Harpies game! If you could get us tickets I think that I would love you forever! 6th year is pretty interesting! We have Dementors stationed outside of the school, because for some reason everyone seems to under the impression that this is the first place Black will go… In other news, Wood hasn't been too much trouble this year, I have yet to have had to resort to physical damage (I think that's a record!), so don't think that I need you to beat him up. The first Quidditch game is Gryffindor versus Slytherin and it's in three weeks (on Saturday of course, but if you didn't know that then you are not a real Hogwarts graduate!) and the Hogsmeade trip is the following Saturday! Send me a letter if you can come to either of them! I miss you!

Talli

I finished eating my turkey sandwich then said, "I'm going to Owlery."

"Okay, we'll see you in Charms!" Katie said and I made my way toward the Owlery.

Once in the Owlery I found my owl, Gem, and quickly called her over.

"Hey Gem!" I said, stroking her jet-black feathers as she hooted in response, "I want you to take this to Chris okay?"

She hooted happily and I tied the parchment to her leg before heading to Charms, not wanting to be late to two classes in a row. I also would not fancy another detention; Wood might kill me, if he doesn't already…

I left Charms in a fairly good mood that probably had something to do with the cheering charms that we were reviewing.

"We should go swimming again! We need to enjoy this sun while we actually have it!" Alicia said, happily (Katie was really good with cheering charms).

"Let's go change into our suites then make our way out to the lake!" said Angelina happily, Fred, George, and Lee nodding.

"I'll invite Joy!" Lee said excitedly, before running off to find his girl friend.

"I'll see if Wood wants to come!" Fred said, and I scowled, but before I could say anything Fred had run off so I just shrugged it off (damn charm!).

Once we got to the lake we put our stuff under the usual tree before us girls took off our sundresses. I could feel the stares on my back from the various boys outside, knowing that they were watching my friends and I, but I decided to ignore them. I made my way to the rope swing before I grabbed hold of the rough rope and then with a running start I leapt and swung into the lake, landing close to George. I was very happy that I was a witch and could put the sticking charm on my purple and white polka dot bikini so that it would stay up. Otherwise that could lead to some major problems.

I quickly moved out of the way as Alicia came swinging in, followed soon by Katie and finally Angelina.

"We should play chicken!" George said, excitedly, "We'll have to take turns because there's an uneven amount of us, but it would be fun!"

We all agreed eagerly and I offered to sit out the first time, so Katie and George, Fred and Angelina and Alicia and Wood went up against each other. I was secretly hoping that Katie and George would win; they made such a cute pair…if only they would ever realize it…

I watched as Katie was the first one to go down (damn!) and Angelina and Alicia battled it out. I watched as they both started to fall towards the ground, and I was sad to see that Angelina hit the water first. Next game was Lee and Joy versus Fred and Angelina, followed by George and I versus Alicia and Wood.

I was determined to win. First group out were Lee and Joy, and then Angelina slipped off of Fred's shoulders. It was down to Alicia and I. We playfully glared at each other, before we started pushing each other with all of our strength. I accidentally ended up elbowing her in the nose, so she pulled my hair, and I felt myself falling; but being the smart person (don't comment!) I was, I fell towards Alicia, taking her down with me. I knew that she was going to hit the water first and I smirked at her. The one thing I did not think about was the person underneath her, whom I awkwardly ended up landing on top of.

I could hear Alicia giggling as I came up for air, glaring at Wood for no apparent reason, well other than the fact that he had his very muscular arms around me.

He instantly dropped his arms and we swam a good three feet away from each other, and I told myself that the lack of warmth was just because of the missing body heat.

"Well, that was awkward…" Joy said, nervously, and I had to control myself to not glare at her.

Lee started to laugh nervously and soon Fred and George joined in…I continued to stand there and exercised all of my self-control by not killing any of them.

"It's dinner time!" Katie said, watching the other students start filing into the castle, breaking the awkward tension (and saving me from doing something that I would maybe end up regretting later).

We all slowly got out and put the drying spell on ourselves, put our dresses back on and made our way to the Great Hall to eat.

Later that night I was making my way down to the pitch with the other girls and Alicia cautiously said, "You know Talli, I think that Oliver might have actually liked you last year, despite what he said. He kept staring at you this afternoon."

I knew that she had been dying to say something; she had had that glint in her eye all afternoon. The one look she always had when she was going to tell me that Wood and I should be together forever and ever…regardless of what happened last year. Though, after what had happened last year she was much better at holding her tongue.

"I think that you're full of it," I said, rolling my eyes, "He's a hormonal teenage boy; he was probably just staring because I looked hot in my swimsuit…"

The other girls laughed, and Alicia just shook her head, not even bothering to reply to that considering we were at the changing room.

We entered the changing rooms to find that the boys were already waiting, again, and Wood looked like he was getting impatient.

"Today we are going to do a practice game. Angelina, Alicia, Katie you guys will try and score, Fred and George you guys will hit bludgers towards them, then redirect them before they are actually hit, Prince, I'll release the snitch and you'll wait five minutes before you go and catch it."

We all nodded, and then made our way outside, were we flew into the air. I absolutely loved flying. I loved the wind in my hair, the view of castle, and of course the sport that came with it. I flew around looking for the snitch, squinting in the night sky, thankful that the moon was almost full so I could easily see without the pitch lights on.

I caught the snitch a total of five times in the hour and a half that we practiced, and we were now sitting back in the locker room waiting for Wood to finish up his speech.

"Now, today's practice was brilliant. You all did a good job. We will have practice again tomorrow night, same time."

"Um, Wood, I can't make it to practice tomorrow night. I have detention," I said cautiously, knowing he was not going to be happy with me.

"How?" he said, his eyes gleaming angrily, "It's only the second week of school!"

"Nott blew up the potion, remember?" I said, angrily, I mean, I knew he remembered the little incident because his eyes light up with laughter for a second as he recalled me covered in the yellow goop.

"Key word was Nott. Not you Prince."

"Yes, well this is Snape we're talking about. You know the one with the billowing black cap and the disgusting greasy hair that I luckily did not inherit."

"I know who Snape is…" he said angrily, "What time do you get out of detention?"

"Eight."

"Meet me at the pitch right after that, you will stay longer than everyone else and you'll start by running seven laps around the pitch, then you will continue with whatever else I feel like having you do."

"SEVEN?" I said, outraged.

"Yes, Prince seven."

"I can't help that Snape favors the students in his own house!" I said in complete outrage.

"Would you like to make it ten?!" he countered and I just glared, knowing that he would actually change it.

"Oliver, don't you think you're being a little unfair, I mean, it is Snape…and she really didn't have any control over it…" Angelina said, cautiously.

"No, this is my last year, and we are going to win. And in order to do that I need all of my team members at all of the practices," Wood said, and I continued to glare, "That means that they are not sitting in detention."

Angelina shot me a sympathetic look but knew that if she kept talking she would be running too. Of course she wouldn't need to run seven laps, I was the only one he would do that too; but she would have to run enough.

"That's all for tonight, so let's get back up to the common room," Wood said and I made my way towards the castle without waiting to see if the others were following yet.

I was beyond pissed.

Detention the next night was horrible. I had to scrub the trophies in the trophy room until they "shined like the star on the top of a Christmas tree". The whole 'scrubbing' part wasn't bad because he forgot to take my wand, so I just charmed them all clean, but then I had to wait an hour for him to return. The second he told me I was free to go (grudgingly of course, and not before I got the talk about how he should be able to hang us by our ankles from the ceiling) I went running towards the Quidditch pitch not looking forward to my 'quality' time with my lovely captain.

Practice went smoothly while I was there, and I shot grateful looks to everyone while they were leaving for keeping him in a decent mood.

"You can start your seven laps now, and when you're done I want seventy-five crunches and fifty pushups. Oh, and Prince, do try and hurry, I have a date tonight, and I'd rather not miss it."

More like a make out in a broom cupboard, I thought bitterly, but I started to run anyways, knowing the quicker I got done with that the quicker I would be able to be away from him.

"I fucking hate him!" I said, as I collapsed onto my bed, not even bothering to change.

"I have a bath started, why don't you go relax…" Katie offered, being the motherly one of the group.

"Thanks Kate, you're the best," I said, as I slowly heaved myself off of my bed, and towards my trunk where I picked out my pjs for the night (a purple sports bra and white shorts).

I think I sat in the bath for forty minutes, letting the heat relax my muscles. Once I got out I had every intent of reading some of my book before I made my way to bed, but then I realized I left my bag in the common room.

Groaning I made my way into the common room and towards the table in the back, where I had been working earlier (before my detention). Once I got to where my bag was I heard a wolf whistle, and chuckling. I turned around quickly, my muscles whining in protest of moving too quickly, and found the seventh year boys (shockingly including Percy Weasly) sitting around the fire. I glared at them.

"Looking good Talli, do you always wear that to bed?" asked Jonathan, teasing me.

"Maybe," I said, for amusement purposes only.

"You really should put some clothes on Tallison," Percy commented, shooting me a look that clearly said 'protective brother' and 'head boy that didn't like seeing students walking around half naked'.

"I'm wearing clothes," I said cheekily.

"Barely," I heard Percy say, and I could see Jonathan and Carter looking at me lustfully, Wood's eyes' were full of laughter, but I could have sworn I saw a bit of lust in them (I smirked inwardly at that thought, I could have fun with this) Kyle was looking down nervously, like he always did in the presence of girls and Percy looked out raged.

"But I am," I said, smirking as I made my way over and sat in the chair across from Wood, I could feel his eyes on me, and I smirked, "So what were you guys talking about?"

"I can't remember now, you're beauty distracted me," Carter said, with a flirty wink.

"I'm sorry," I said, pouting my lips slightly, "Well I would hate to distract you anymore, so good night!"

As I said that I hopped up, ignoring the spasms of pain going through me, and walked up stairs, my bag over my shoulder and a smirk on my lips.


	4. Of Quidditch Matches and Chris

The next couple of weeks passed in a Quidditch blur. Why do I call it a Quidditch blur one might ask; well I call it a Quidditch blur because I practically lived on the Quidditch pitch. Wood was not kidding when he said he was still going to work us just as hard this year. In fact, he was working us even harder than normal, claiming it was his last year, and he really wanted us to be playing at our best ability. Some nights we were at the pitch until 11:30 (curfew for the 6th and 7th years was midnight) and back up at 5 the next morning. That was real fun considering we were getting hammered with homework at the same time. There were definitely nights when I did not sleep at all. Coffee is a beautiful thing, let me tell you; without it I would have not survived.

To make matters worse, Nott kept blowing up our potion in potions class, but Snape decided that he enjoyed taking off points from Gryffindor (he'd never dream to take points away from his Quidditch 'star') more than giving me a detention. This was both good and bad in the fact that it meant that I didn't miss any Quidditch practice; I really think that Wood would have killed me. Alicia said this was because he knew we were going to gain all of the points during the Quidditch match. Professor McGonagall knew this of course, so she would try to find things (fairly of course) to give us points in Transfiguration.

But finally it was the Saturday of the match and I was sitting in the Great Hall staring at my toast. Contemplating if I could actually eat it without throwing up.  

"You guys need to eat," said Wood, coming and sitting down next to Alicia.

I sighed knowing that he was right so I started too nibbled at my toast until he announced that we could go to the pitch.

We all got up to leave for the pitch and weren't really surprised when we got a large amount of cheers erupting from three of the houses in the Hall. We walked silently to the pitch leaving our footprints in the dewy green grass. All of us trying to ignore the storm clouds that seemed to be coming our way, hoping that it wouldn't storm. Once we entered the changing room we took our time and changed into the red and gold jerseys then we all sat on the bench and waited for Wood's annual pep talk that we all knew word for word.

"I want you all to go out there and play your best," he started, "I want you all to play fair, not that any of you would cheat, and I want you to be careful. I know that we can beat them if we play our best, because we are the best Quidditch team Hogwarts has seen in years! Now lions on three ONE…TWO…THREE!"

"LIONS!"

"Now I think that Lee is calling us onto the field," Wood said, and sure enough Lee's magnified voice could be heard through out the entire stadium.

"Let's welcome your Gryffindor team: the amazing seeker Prince, the unbeatable chasers Bell, Spinet, and Johnson, the crazy beaters Weasly twins, and the unstoppable keeper Wood!" he said with a great amount of enthusiasm, then he continued in a monotone voice, sounding very bored, "Now I guess I have to announce the Slytherin team too…you have seeker Nott, chasers, (Marcus) Flint, Pucey, and Rowle, for keeper Higgs you have, and at beaters you have the buffoons (this earned him a sharp glare from McGonagall), Crabbe and Goyle."

I stare blankly at the green snakes, who to me, look more like gorillas, as they made their way onto the pitch, trying to act all cool and shit. Of course, they were failing miserably. I thought my stomach would burst with excitement, anticipation and nerves when Madame Hooch started to talk.

"I want a nice clean game, all of you," she said her beady, yellow, hawk-like eyes giving all of us hard looks, "Now Captains shake hands…"

Wood and Flint stood there glaring at each other not wanting to shake hands, but after a firm glare from Madame Hooch and a little shove from Alicia they shook hands. Actually it was more of a contest to see who would break the others hands first. My money was on Wood (because I knew how strong he was, he may not look it, but I know he could kick Flint’s ass if he needed to). And with that Madame Hooch released the balls and the game began. I soared up and into the air, enjoying the freedom of flying. I squinted around the pitch looking for the snitch hoping to catch it before the dark foreboding clouds made their way over, threatening to postpone our game.

I looked around for the flash of gold, not really hearing what Lee was saying because the wind had picked up. I flew around, and glanced down to see Angelina with a bloody nose, presumably from being elbowed, but I did not have much more time to examine her because I had a snitch to catch. The bludger coming straight at me could have been some of it too. Luckily I dodged it just in time, and managed not to fall off my broom avoiding it.

The storm was getting closer now, the wind was starting to rock my broom and the air was starting to feel incredibly humid. I knew I needed to catch the snitch, and soon. I looked across the pitch and saw that Nott was streaking after a gold ball, and I knew I had a lot of catching up to do. I urged my broom to fly as quickly as possible lying down almost flat against it. I had reached his broom now and was catching up. Soon we were neck and neck, and I saw his elbow coming towards me. Quickly I went into a small dive to avoid it, and he ended up spinning slightly off course, not expecting me to doge it, giving me a lead. He was quick to catch up though. We were neck and neck again and almost to the snitch. We were both urging our brooms forward and he was getting ahead.

Then the snitch streaked upwards and towards the Gryffindor goal posts where Wood was guarding intently. We followed it closely, but never able to get close enough to grab for it. We neared the goal posts, and as we did the snitch was going to go through the left ring.

Nott turned slightly so that he could go around the goal post, but I kept going. It would be quicker to go through the ring. And that is exactly what I did. I nearly knocked Wood off of his broom in the process, but when Nott and I reached out our hands, I was closer and got it first.

"PRINCE HAS THE SNITCH!" Lee yelled, full of excitement, "GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

There were loud cheers coming from the stands, as we all flew down to the ground. The Slytherins were all sulking off of the field and Nott looked fit to kill, but I didn't care. I was thrilled. Our team made our way towards each other and had a group hug; I was as far away from Wood humanly possible in that arrangement. The stands were soon filing out onto the green field, coming to congratulate the team.

All of a sudden I felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around my waist and I turned around to see Chris standing there grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey!" I said and I gave him a hug, "It's great to see you!"

"You too. You played brilliantly!"

"Thanks!"

"Chris!" Angelina said, giving him a hug.

"Hey Angie," he said, hugging her back.

"So how about those Harpie tickets?" Alicia asked, walking up to them grinning.

"Wow, I don't even get a hello," he said shaking his head, "I'm going to try and get some over the summer for you guys."

"Thanks!" we said, grinning happily at the idea.

"So I see you decided to go brunet again?" he asked Alicia.

"Yeah I normally dye it brown in the summer, I'm going back blonde soon though…" she said.

"Don't people normally do the opposite?" he asked, giving her a funny look.

"Normal people do, but I think that we all know that 'Licia isn't normal…" said Katie, "Hey Chris!"

"Hey Kate," he said smiling.

"As much as I love talking with you girls I really need to go, besides, you have a victory party to go to," Chris said, waving, "Maybe I'll see you next weekend at Hogsmeade."

"Bye Chris!" we chorused, and I gave him a hug.

"Now let's get ready for the party," Alicia said grinning.

We were all standing in front of the giant mirror in our bathroom fixing our hair and make up before the party, as the storm outside was in full swing. I pulled my curly blonde hair into a side pony tail while I outlined my green eyes in brown eyeliner added a little eye shadow, some clear gloss. Then I went into our bedroom and pulled out my out fit. I chose a black skirt and a purple spaghetti strapped shirt with black pumps.

The next person out of the bathroom was Angie. She decided to leave her black hair down and she waved it, and it cascaded down to the middle of her back. Her make up was light, just a little lip-gloss, and she still looked absolutely stunning. She then made her way towards her bed where her pink sundress was laying that looked beautiful with her dark skin tone, and her white sandals.

Katie came out next with her dark brown hair left down reaching her shoulders and straight. For makeup she put some blush on her pale skin and sparkles around her brown eyes. She went over to her bed and put on her grey skirt and blue spaghetti top with her black flats.

Last out was Alicia with her brown hair in loose curls down passed her shoulders; her eyes had the smoky effect and her lips blood red. She got change into her dark denim skinny jeans and her red halter. She also put on her red pumps to add effect.

"Are we all ready?" she asked.

"Yeah!" we said, excited.

We made our way down the spiral stairs and out into the crowded Common room. The music was already blasting and I am assuming the silencing charm has already been cast, or McGonagall would have already had a cow. We girls made our way over to where Fred and George were standing talking to Wood.

"Hey boys!" Angie said.

"Hey," said Fred.

"Good job today girls," Wood said, nodding at us in greeting.

"You too Ollie," said Alicia, smirking.

"So Ali, remember that little game we had over the summer at my parents annual end of summer bash?"

"Of course," she said, smiling at the memory, "How could I not…"

"I want a rematch," he said, smirking.

"You are so on!" Alicia said, and the two of them were off.

Maybe I should explain their relationship. They have known each other since Alicia was about five and Oliver six. They met when Alicia's family bought a summer home in Scotland; a house that happened to be right next-door to the Woods'. The two of them were like brother and sister, but without the entire over protectiveness. Well, for the most part. In fifth year when Alicia got her heart broken by Adam James, Oliver went and gave him a good hexing (I was honestly surprised that I didn’t go right for the punch). But that is a story for another time. If either of them were over protective they surely would not be playing the game they were now.

This game involved seeing who could make out with the most people in one night. They had invented it over the summer one day they were bored, and played it at the summer bash. It was really quite humorous because Wood got slapped, and Alicia won.

"I bet you Oliver wins…" Fred said to Angelina.

"I have my money on Alicia," said Angelina and they shook on it, while I just stood there and shook my head at their antics.

I scanned the crowd looking to see who had shown up, and was surprised to see that just about the entire house had shown up; even Percy the Prefect.

"Would you like to dance Katie?" George asked, grinning goofily.

"Sure," Katie said blushing, and Angie and I smiled; Katie had had a crush on George for about two years.

"Hey guys," Lee said, with his arm around Joy's shoulders.

"Hello," Angie said, smiling nicely.

"Where's everyone else?" he asked, curious.

"Alicia and Oliver are playing that game they invented over the summer, and Katie and George are dancing," I replied.

"And so are Fred and Angelina," said Fred, and without even asking he grabbed Angie's hand and dragged her to the dance floor while she laughed.

"Well Joy, would you like to dance?" asked Lee, grinning.

"Sure," she said, and they walked away, leaving me all alone.

I have really great friends...

"Great…" I mumbled, as I made my way to get a drink.

A few hours later the party was still in full swing, though all of the younger students had gone up to bed. The score to Alicia and Wood's little game was Wood: 4 and Alicia: 3, they needed to wait for the people they had previously made out with were drunk before they could move on…if Wood got slapped or if Alicia got yelled at they were disqualified.

I had danced with a few people and had a few more drinks, and all of my other friends had been dancing all night. I was currently dancing with a fellow sixth year named Alex, which was fun, but he was a little to drunk for my liking.

"Hey Alicia," I said to her as she walked passed, and I nodded my head towards Alex, silently asking her if she had kissed him yet.

She shook her head, so I whispered to Alex, "I'm going to bed, thanks for the dance."

And departed with a small kiss on the cheek, winking at Alicia as I walked away, she smirked back before setting to work. I actually did go to bed though…I was exhausted from the weeks of practice and homework. I made my way up the stairs and back into the sixth year girls' dorm and walked over to where my book bag was. I grabbed the book that I was currently reading and sat on my bed, the red hangings still open. I glanced at the clock at saw that it was one, and then I began to read, getting lost in the story.

I woke the next morning around nine to find all of the other girls lying in bed, still asleep. Alicia wasn't even changed. Chuckling I got out of bed and threw my stuff into a bag and headed out. I could see a few people getting up and walking up into their dorms from the common room as I made my way out.

I walked along the familiar stone corridors towards the Room of Requirement and then walked passed the wall three times, full of excitement. It had been way to long since I had gone on a run on my own terms (and since it was too cold to do outside I went for the next best thing).

A few hours later I found myself sitting at lunch with the girls.

"So, did you guys have fun last night?" I asked, smirking.

"Yeah…" Katie said, as her eyes glazed over remembering the night.

"Same," Angelina said, and Alicia grunted in agreement.

"Where is Oliver with the bloody potion," she said angrily.

"Not a clue," I said cheerfully, earning me a glare, "Who won last night?"

"He did…" she said glaring at her food.

"Damn it!" Angelina said, and then she got up and walked over to where Fred was sitting with his brother and Lee and gave him a galleon before walking back.

Fred sat there chuckling.

"Hello ladies," Wood said sitting down.

"Hey," Alicia grumbled, "You better have that bloody potion…"

"Of course," he said cheerfully.

"Why are you so bloody cheerful?" Alicia asked as she took the potion and downed it.

"He got some action from Erica," said Jonathan, sitting down next to Wood, waggling his eyebrows.

"Who the hell would want to sleep with him?" I asked, wrinkling my nose in disgust.

"A lot of people would," he replied, "You're just jealous because I didn't sleep with you!"

"Don't make me laugh Wood. The very thought of touching you repulses me, so why the hell would I sleep with you?"

"Because I'm sexy."

"You wish."

"Don't lie to yourself Prince you know it's true."

"Oh, trust me, I'm not. I think you have us mixed up. Only someone delusional would think your 'sexy' (I did air quotes around the sexy)" I said glaring, before getting up and walking away, so much for my cheerful mood.

He didn't need to know I thought he as sexy. No girl could deny it (other the Alicia, but they were practically related). Besides, it would ruin my reputation of being one of the few girls who could resist Wood. Before you get the wrong idea, I can resist Wood. His cocky, ass hole personality out weighs his looks. I still absolutely hate him, and I pride myself in being one of the only people who can resist that bloody smirk of his.

Now, I know what you’re thinking…Talli, you dated him last year, surely you thought he was attractive. To that I would respond with, it wasn’t until he was acting like less of an ass did he become extremely attractive, and did his smirk have a slight affect. After what happened at the end of last year we were back to ass hole Wood, and therefore I am back to being immune.

 

Shaking my head of all thoughts of Oliver Wood I decided to write home. I had been so busy that I hadn’t really had time to write since I had been back, and I wanted to ask if either of my parents knew why everyone was scared Sirius Black would want to break into Hogwarts. Happy with my decision, I headed towards the Owlery, thinking through what I was going to write.

 

 


	5. Of Hogsmeade, Parties and Flashbacks

The week went by slowly. I went to my classes, took notes and was assigned tons of homework; I served detention with Snape because Nott blew up our potion (yet again-honestly, couldn’t he get more creative?). Plus, it didn’t help that Snape was a sore loser. Thankfully, we only had Quidditch practice three times over the week and luckily my detention was on a day we did not have practice.

It was currently Saturday and I was up way too early for my liking. It was Angelina's birthday today and it was a Hogsmeade weekend so I knew that it was going to be a fun day. That didn’t necessarily make getting up any easier though. I sat up and walked over to the window that was by Alicia's bed and I opened it. It was a sunny day, and surprisingly warm for an October day, especially so late into it. Deciding it was warm enough to go swimming I walked over to my trunk and pulled out my green bathing suit. I then fished through my trunk for my black basketball shorts, green tank top and my green flip-flops. Then I grabbed my wand and was off towards the lake. I walked through the cool stone corridor enjoying the silence, and when I walked outside I could feel the morning sun shine on my skin, warming me slightly. I walked through the dewy grass and over to the tall beach tree by the calm lake. I took my flip flops, shorts and tank top off and set my wand next to them, before making my way towards the end of the pier, and diving in.

The water was cold, as I expected, but it felt good, and worked on waking me up fully. I started my laps, thinking that if there was one thing that was remotely close to Quidditch and flying it was definitely swimming. I stayed out swimming for about forty-five minutes before I decided that I needed to get out so I could get ready for the day.

I walked back towards the castle, wide awake, and smiling. Yeah, I was smiling, and it was early. I was pretty amazed too. I walked up to the dorm and got into the shower, before I started getting ready for the day. When picking my outfit I needed to pick something that was Hogsmeade appropriate and party appropriate considering Angelina's surprise party was tonight, and I was in charge of distracting her and then getting her to the party. I had a feeling she knew that we were throwing her a party, but she never said anything, allowing us to stay under the illusion that we were surprising her.

In the end I decided upon wearing my jeans and my purple tank, along with a cute pair of purple flats. I left my curly light blonde hair down for once, and added a small amount of makeup before I was ready and waiting for Angelina. Katie and Alicia were already gone and on they’re way towards their dates for the day.

When Ang came out of the bathroom she was wearing her light blue tank top and her denim skirt with her blue flip flops.

"Ready to go birthday girl?" I said chuckling; she threw a pillow at me.

Angelina was not one to really care about her birthday, even if it was her seventeenth.

Ang and I were soon out on the grounds waiting for one of the carriages to take us to the wonderful village. You might be wondering why it was only Angelina and I today, well everyone else had dates, and like the wonderful people that they were. Alicia was going with Alex (apparently they really hit it off at the party), George had finally grown a pair and asked Katie (I am not ashamed to admit that I did a little happy dance when Katie came into the dormitories with the biggest smile on her face and shared the news), and then Lee and Fred were getting things for the party. That left the two of us. Not that I minded of course.

"So where does the birthday girl want to go first?" I asked her, smirking while she glared at me.

"Hmm…" she said, pretending to be thoughtful, "HONEYDUKES!"

I laughed at Angelina, being her typical self, and we headed down the cobble stone path towards the candy shop. Once we arrived we shoved some of the third years out of the way and made our way inside (what, no one stands between us and chocolate…). Our eyes were probably wide in delight, like Christmas had come early.

We spent at least an hour in there, trying all of the free samples, some of them more than once, and then we picked out all of the candy we wanted and went up and paid. We spent seven galleons total. What can I say; we both really enjoy our candy…

"So, where to next?" I asked as we shrunk our bags and made them lighter so that we could carry them in our purses (yeah, we might have gone a little overboard on the candy…).

"Let's go look at dresses!" she said, and we made our way to one of the smaller dress shops that would be less crowded.

We walked in picking dresses randomly off the racks, picking the most out there or obnoxious dresses we could. I think that we each grabbed two normal dresses and about eight crazy ones. Most of the dresses we knew we could not pull off, but we didn't care that was all part of the fun. I also made it my mission to find the sluttiest dress in the entire shop, and when I succeeded I could not help but smirk. It had a plunging neckline and it was so short it would barely cover my arse, plus the back of it was all criss-crossed.

We then made our way into the dressing rooms and proceeded to try all of the dresses; it took at least an hour because of how much we were laughing over ourselves and how ridiculous we looked. We were currently on our last dress, and for me it was the slutty one. I was standing just outside my changing room when Angelina walked out of hers. I swear my jaw dropped.

"Ang you need to get that dress!" I said, she looked absolutely stunning in it.

"I don't know…It's quite expensive…"

"You're getting, I will buy it for you if you don't want to pay! The boys won't be able to keep their eyes off of you at Alicia's New Year's party," I said and with a wink I added, "Or their hands…"

Angelina laughed and said, "Fine!"

As the day dragged on, it became clear that my job was going to be more difficult than I thought…and let me tell you it was a huge challenge trying to keep Angelina in Hogsmeade. She wanted to go back to the castle. I couldn't let her though because I had not gotten the signal (they would come say goodbye or wave at me as they were leaving) from everyone. Oliver Fucking Wood still needed to give me the signal. I saw him smirk at me through the Three Broomsticks window as he made his way to the quill shop dragging his bimbo of a girlfriend along with him. He bloody smirked (which is when I knew that he was probably done and just pissing me off)! That was an half an hour ago! A bloody half an hour until he finally came out and waved, both of their hair was disheveled and their clothes wrinkled. Three guesses what they were doing. And Angelina seemed to notice this as well.

"Well, looks like he's decided to switch his snog spots up huh?" she asked, getting a glint in her eye that I definitely did not like seeing (it told me she was going to bring up memories that I worked hard to suppress-out of disgust of course).

"I guess…" I said, raising an eyebrow at her, acting like I wondering where she was going with this.

"Remember when the only place that he would snog people was when in here, or Honeydukes…"

"Yeah, I remember walking into here or Honeydukes and being about ready to puke because he would be snogging someone senseless and sometimes getting a little more than that. It was absolutely appalling, and would make me lose my appetite," I said, smirking she hadn't really been expecting that.

"Then when you refused to snog in either of those places, you two snogged by the Shrieking Shack (I almost spit out my perfectly good butterbeer at the memory of snogging him by the Shrieking Shack, in absolute disgust-like I said, I’m trying to suppress the memories) and now he just snogged her in the back of the quill shop…"

"Umm…that's great Ang, but may I ask how this is relevant?" I asked, trying to keep the absolutely disgusted look off of my face, I had a feeling I was failing miserably.

"Oh, it wasn't" Angelina said, I had a feeling that she was trying to make me jealous that Wood was snogging other girls, when really, I didn't give a shit (my friends really needed to let that idea go).

The girls still thought that I fancied the bastard, I know that's hysterical, I laughed at them the first time they told me that. I mean, me liking him…again? Never going to happen. Ever.

"Can we leave now that you've finished your third bloody butterbeer?" she asked slightly annoyed.

"Fine," I said, and we left some galleons on the table for our meal and our butterbeer.

We walked out of the pub and over to where the carriages were waiting to take us back to school, and once we got back we quickly made our way to the common room to put back our bags away, and where I knew that Fred was waiting to take us to the Room of Requirement.

I was right once we arrived in the common room Fred was waiting, pacing like he needed to tell us something…

"There you are!" he said, sending a wink at me, "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"We need to put our bags away first…" Angelina said, but I knew that she knew what was coming.

We ran up to our room and as soon as the door closed she turned and looked at me, "Do I look okay?"

"You look fabulous," I said smiling, "How about me?"

"Lovely, darling," she told me smirking and we made our way back down towards the common room and a very impatient Fred.

"Okay let's go!" he said, and we started off towards the Room of Requirement.

While Angelina didn't think that her birthday was a big deal, she definitely was not one to complain about a party. We walked quickly towards the Room of Requirement, reaching it in record time.

"It's in there, George and I made this really cool trick…" Fred said, still acting like it was a surprise.

We nodded and made our way into the dark room, and all of a sudden the lights went on and everyone yelled "SURPRISE!"

Even I was slightly frightened, and I was expecting it. Angelina did a great job at acting surprised, even adding in a gasp and a ‘you didn’t have too’.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Alicia, Katie and I all yelled as we embraced her in a group hug.

"Thanks guys!" she said, with a huge grin on her face, "But could you please get off of me before I can no longer breathe?"

We grinned and nodded and the four boys attacked her with a huge hug as well. And soon all of the other sixth and seventh years made their way over to wish her a happy birthday. All of the sixth and seventh years were here, well except for the Slytherins, but really, that's not a shock.

The party was soon in full swing and I was talking with our Hufflepuff friends Hannah and Rae.

"So when do you think that Fred will ask Angelina to dance?" Hannah asked, curiously.

"Soon, she's been eyeing him all night, even when she was dancing with other blokes, and he's been eyeing her back…" I replied, grinning, knowing that it would put Angelina in a great mood.

She has never told us that she fancied Fred, but from our point of view, we all knew. When we asked her she would deny it, but really, we knew she was lying.

"Hey guys!" Cedric said, walking over to us.

"Hey Ced!" Hannah said, smiling brightly.

"Hi!" Rae and I said.

"So who were you talking about? Fred and Angelina?" he asked, giving us a knowing smirk.

"Yep," Rae said grinning.

"When is he going to ask her to dance, they clearly fancy the pants off of one another!" Cedric said, laughing.

That was the thing about Cedric; he was not as clueless as the other guys his age were.

"So Hannah would you like to dance?" he asked, smiling at her.

"Sure," she said turning pink.

Rae and I probably didn't help much by winking at her.

"And then there were two…"Rae said, laughing.

"And then there were two…" I agreed, laughing with Rae.

See, it had started out as six of us, but then Katie was soon swept away by George (their date had gone well-not that I had any doubts), and Alex came to dance with Alicia, and Angelina was soon whisked away as well. That had left Hannah, Rae and I.

"They make a really cute couple don't you think?" I asked Rae.

"I know! I mean, they clearly like each other, it's almost like another Fred and Angelina!" Rae said and we laughed.

I looked around the room and was very surprised to see that Fred was dancing with one of the seventh year Gryffindor girls. I nudged Rae and pointed my head towards them, and I saw her face fill with shock. My face probably looked really similar to hers.

"And I thought that he liked Angelina…" she said.

"Me too…" I said, "Maybe he does and he was just being polite…"

"Maybe he's trying to get her jealous! By the looks of it she already is. I think that if looks could kill they would be dead, brought back to life, and then killed again!"

We both chuckled slightly at her last comment.

"But really what if he's trying to make her jealous…"

"I don't know…"

We probably would have continued our conversation but someone was walking towards us.

"Hey, I was wondering if you would like to dance?" he asked, looking at me.

"Umm…sure," I said, kind of shocked, I don't think that I've ever talked to him before.

We made our way towards the dance floor and started to dance.

"I'm Allan, by the way, Allan Clark," he said, smiling kindly.

"I'm Talli," I said, grinning back, his grin was contagious, "You're a Ravenclaw right?"

"Yes, and damn proud of it!" he said, causing both of us to laugh, "My entire family has been in Ravenclaw for centuries…"

"Wow…My mom was in Ravenclaw when she came here."

"Really? You're a Gryffindor right?" he said, his face showing a slight look of shock that I was not in the same house as my mom (I don’t know why, not everyone was in the same house as their parents…I definitely was not a Ravenclaw or a Slytherin).

"Yeah! And damn proud of it," I added with a laugh, "You don't play Quidditch do you?"

"No! I'm not the best flyer, and between the two of us, I don't really understand the game..."

"You don't understand it?" I said in shock, I just assumed that everyone knew about the wonderful sport.

"Nope, maybe you could teach me sometime though. You're the Gryffindor seeker right?"

"Yeah! And of course, I would consider it an honor to educate you on Quidditch!" I said smiling.

We continued to dance in a comfortable silence for a little while, and as I looked to the left slightly I was thrilled with what I saw. George and Katie were kissing! I really almost did a little jig but I figured that Allan might fine that a little strange.

I couldn't however stop myself from muttering "Finally!" under my breath.

"What?" asked Allan looking confused (I guess I said that louder than I had intended…).

"Nothing..." I said feeling slightly embarrassed and very thankful that I don't blush.

Allan just shrugged. And that's when I saw it. Fred and the seventh year Terri were making out in the middle of the dance floor. It was revolting, but maybe that's because Fred is practically my brother (and they were not nearly as adorable as Katie and George), I have known him long enough...but still what happened to Angelina? Shit! Angelina! If she saw this she would be crushed. I looked around quickly to see if I could find her, and find her I did. She was walking towards the door with a completely fake smile plastered on her face, nodding in thanks to some people. I glance at Alicia and Katie but both were to absorb in their boys to notice (not that I blamed them of course, I just barely saw it).

"I need to go Allan! I'll talk to you soon though! Sorry!" I said and I ran towards the door leaving a very confused Allan behind me.

My escape would have worked out perfectly if Wood and his new slut hadn't gotten in the way (why couldn’t luck be on my side for once?). I just plowed right through them and I ignored Wood yelling from behind me (it was probably just something rude anyways). I ran through the corridors looking for Angelina. I found her a few corridors down, sitting against the stone with her knees up, her head resting on them and her arms wrapped around them. I could hear her quietly crying, and it crushed me.

I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her giving her an awkward side hug. We sat there for a while not saying a word and I just let her cry. But I knew that we needed to move or a Professor would likely come and give us detention.

"We need to go to the dorms Ang; otherwise we might get in trouble. Plus we have chocolate up there," I told her and she nodded.

We made our way to the common room, quietly, she was no longer crying, but she was sniffling slightly. When we entered the common room we made our way right up to our dorms, not even noticing the couple making out on the couch. Once in our dorms I grabbed some chocolate out of my Honeydukes bag and handed it to her. She in turn, nibbled on it.

"How could he?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly because she had been crying.

"I don't know Ang…" I said, wishing I knew the answer.

"What does that slut have that I don't? I mean I gave that bastard enough signs! He caught me looking at him at least five times. FIVE! Why can't he realize that I like him?" she asked angrily, and I decided against pointing out that she could have made her feelings a little more obvious.

"Because Ang, boys are stupid and oblivious," I said which was very true, especially in Fred’s case.

"I mean she's not prettier than me, and she obviously has less brain cells…what does she have that I don't?"

"I don't know Ang…" I said, and I really had no bloody idea.

"What do I do about it?" Ang asked me.

"I don't think that you can do much about it, other than wait it out. I really doubt this 'relationship' will last a long time," I pointed out.

"Do you think that I should get a boyfriend just to make him jealous?" she asked.

"No, that would be really incredibly mean, besides he will think that you want your 'boy toy' and stay with Terri even longer."

"Incredibly mean huh?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't that what you did to Oliver last year?"

Damn her logic, "Yes. But I did not want him back, my goal was just to make him as angry as possible, you on the other hand are trying to get him to date you."

She glared at me knowing that I was right, and after a few minutes of silence she spoke again.

"You know, I really hate PMS. It's like a civil war in your uterus; all of the blood is just all the soldiers that died.  **(this would be conversations that happened between my friend and I 3yrs ago…and I don’t have the heart to take it out…haha)**  If it weren't for that, then I wouldn't be this emotional, especially if it was just a guy."

I gave her a look that clearly stated 'I-know-that-he-is-more-than-just-a-guy-to-you' look.

"Okay, fine, he might be a guy that I fancy the pants off of, but I still wouldn't be this bloody emotional!" she said, glaring.

I gave her another hug, and we continued to have some girl time until both Katie and Alicia stumbled in around two.

**Oliver's POV:**

I watched slightly confused as Talli ran away, without even one loathing look or one insult for 'getting in her way' none the less. I was very used to getting snarky comments whenever she passed me, but especially if we accidently bumped into each other. I was also surprised to see her leaving. I may hate her and she may be a complete, obnoxious bitch but even I couldn't call her a bad friend. So the fact that she was leaving her friend’s party early was really surprising. Naturally I was curious as to why she left, so I figured I'd find out, I mean, who just leaves their best friends party?

"Hey Tiff," I said seductively into Tiffany's ear, "How about we go back to the common room?"

I got the reaction I wanted. She giggled and nodded, so I grabbed her hand we made our way out of the Room of Requirement. Of course Jonathan noticed that and sent me a quick thumbs up. I just rolled my eyes.

We got to the common room quite quickly, and I led Tiffany towards the couch, where we sat down, her on my lap. She wasted no time in capturing my lips to hers and I immediately started kissing back. Her hands quickly moved from around my neck to my hair, and I moaned, I loved it when girls did that. My hands soon moved down to her hips, and then down to her bum. She moaned in delight and I stuck my tongue into her mouth our tongues fighting for dominance. Then the portrait opened and we both froze. Shit. It better not be Percy, otherwise I think I would kill him. He had taken to many points from me because he found me in 'compromising positions'. It took me a second to realize that Percy no longer lived in this common room. I almost sighed in relief.

And then I heard it. Sniffling. I looked up slightly to see who it was, and I could just barely see two silhouettes walking. I froze when I realized that I recognized both of them. It was Angelina and Talli. I could see Talli's shorter frame, walking next to Angelina's taller frame, trying to comfort her. That would explain why Talli left, but not why Ang was crying. I almost jumped out of my seat. I had grown close to Angelina, and everyone else on the Quidditch team (other than Talli) and I immediately wanted to find whoever made Angie cry and beat them to a pulp. I had never seen her cry before. Ever. Which was saying something, as we had been teammates for years.

But before I could do anything Tiffany's mouth was back on mine (completely oblivious to the people who entered the common room), and well, I was a teenage boy…but I did vow that I would take care of it tomorrow. Right now I had a gorgeous girl on my lap.

                                    ***

I woke up the next morning surprisingly without a headache, and when I rolled over I was not surprised to see Tiffany still lying there, what did surprise me however was the time. It 6:30 in the bloody morning! I didn't even have Quidditch practice today!

Sighing I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but then I remember Talli and Angelina walking into the common room. I immediately felt my blood boil. I almost got up and walked over to their dorm (I knew the spell to stop the stairs from turning into a slide-thanks Fred and George), but then I realized Angie would kill me. Then Talli and Katie would revive me only to kill me again, while Ali stood by and laughed. Yeah, going up there was not a good idea. So I decided I'd let my mind wonder. But it couldn't have wondered somewhere pleasant, like last night; no it had to go to Talli. That bitch, I swear she had powers to torment me, even while she was sleeping. I really wouldn't put it past her.

It all started in her first year.

_I watched with boredom as the sorting began. I watched as a girl with brown hair and freckles was sorted into Gryffindor, I think her name was Katie something...after that I pretty much just zoned out clapping when I heard the hat call "GRYFFINDOR!"_

_I started to pay a little bit more attention around the Ps, knowing that Ali would be up soon, so I heard Professor McGonagall call "Prince, Tallison!"_

_I watched as a short girl with curly blonde hair made her way up to the stool looking nervous. She hadn't even tried to hide her nerves like most first years do…Needless to say was highly surprised when the hat called "GRYFFINDOR!"_

_I watched as she made her way over to the dark skinned girl across from me and sat down me. I could hear their conversation from across the table._

_"Hey!" said the girl across the table, sounding friendly and smiling brightly, and then pointing to a girl with shorter brown hair and freckles she added, "This is Katie! She's really nice!"_

_"Hi!" Tallison said grinning, and the girl named Katie waved shyly back._

_They then went silent and I turned my attention back to the sorting. I watched as Professor McGonagall called, "Spinnet, Alicia!"_

_And I watched as Ali made her way confidently towards the stool, not looking nervous at all. She sat down and her teal eyes shone with excitement as the Professor put the sorting hat on her blonde haired head._

_"GRYFFINDOR!" it cried and she practically skipped over to me and sat down on my right side._

_"I knew you'd make Gryffindor Ali!" I said, grinning at her._

_"Of course Ollie, where else would I go?" she asked me laughing, then she addressed the three girls that were sitting across the table, "Hello, I'm Alicia Spinnet."_

_"I'm Angelina," Angelina said (the dark skinned girl), grinning happily._

_"I'm Talli," the blonde girl said, with a shy smile._

_"Isn't your real name Tallison?" I asked, smirking, I don't know what it was, but something about this girl just made me want to annoy her._

_"Yes but I absolutely detest that name, so call me Talli," she said, then smirking she added, "You're name is Ollie right?"_

_"It's Oliver."_

_"Okay, Ollie."_

_Alicia was laughing, so I glared at her and the girl named Angelina was trying to hold her laughter in._

_"I'm Katie."_

_"Hello!" Alicia said, and the girls all grinned and all of us returned our attention back to the sorting._

_"Weasley, Fred!" Professor McGonagall called, and I watched as one of the redhead twins made their way forward, I had heard Charlie talking about them last year, apparently they were quite the pranksters._

_The sorting hat lasted hardly a few seconds before crying out, "GRYFFINDOR!"_

_I clapped, and watched as a grin spread across 'Tallison's' face, as he came and sat next to her, also grinning widely, "I told you I'd be in Gryffindor Tal."_

_She stuck her tongue out at him, and they turned just in time to see the hat cry "GRYFFINDOR!" for his twin brother._

_I figured that they had known each other since before school started._

_"So Tallison, do you play Quidditch?" I asked, assuming the answer was no, she did not look like the Quidditch type, definitely looked way too girly._

_"I do Ollie; I'm seeker, what about you?" she replied, surprising me._

_"I do, I'm keeper, and don't call me Ollie," I said, okay, I wasn’t keeper yet, but I was definitely hoping that I would be this year._

_"Then don't call me Tallison," she said, and I knew that we simply would not get along._

Needless to say, I was right, we did not get along for the rest of the year; we would always call each other Tallison or Ollie, simply to get on the others nerves. Apparently no one was allowed to call her that, not even her own parents, but I hadn't really cared. That really is what started are immense dislike for each other. Over the years it only escaladed.

Second year wasn't much better, I now had to deal her at Quidditch practice, and she accused me of always being cocky and yelling at the team, even though I wasn't captain. I, of course, would give my input on the team; it was my goal to be made captain next year anyways, so I figured I should practice.

Third year was hell, I became Quidditch captain (the youngest one in about fifty years!) and I decided that practice needed to become harder and more often (if we wanted to be the best). I also made her run laps whenever she called me Ollie (she would glare and accuse me of abusing my power-which I was…but it was so worth it), so soon enough we ended up calling each other by our last names. Luckily for her though the other two chaser spots opened and Angelina and Alicia joined. Prince and I could not be in the same room as each other, and the only time we could be somewhat civil to each other was at Quidditch, and that was only because we wanted to win too much.

Nothing really changed until last year, except for maybe more arguments and better comebacks and insults. Last year we decided that we should try and be civil. That worked well for us until after the last Quidditch game.

_She ran towards me, giving me a huge hug, and I could keep the smile off of my face as we walked into the changing rooms hand in hand. I could not believe that we had hated each other for four years (Alicia would argue that it was because we were basically the same person)! After changing out of our robes and into normal clothes we walked back to the common room where we parted ways to get ready for the party that was going to happen, because we just won the Quidditch cup (again)!_

_I got into the shower quickly and changed into my dark jeans and clean practice uniform jersey before I made my way down to the common room to look for Talli. When I couldn't find her I walked over and sat next to Carter on the red couch._

_"Congrats man," he said, smiling, before being taken to the dance floor by his girlfriend Julie._

_I was not alone for very long though. I felt the other side of the couch sink a little and I looked up to expecting, and hoping, to see Talli. No such luck. It was just Marianna, I had 'dated' her last year for about a week._

_"Hey Oliver," she said, "Great job today! I brought you a drink!"_

_"Thanks Marianna," I said, and without thinking I took a sip of the drink, then another, and soon the entire bottle of fire whiskey was gone, and Marianna was on my lap, kissing me like there was no tomorrow._

_For my luck Talli took that moment to find me, and after getting a fire whiskey she walked over to me, her hips swaying slightly and 'accidentally' dumped her drink all over us. I looked up and glared at her and as she just smiled her 'sweet' little smile that I knew meant nothing good (I had been on the other end of that smile to know that I was completely fucked)._

_"Sorry, I didn't see you there," she said, in a sickly sweet voice that did not fit her, at all._

_"Really Prince?" I said, glaring, and the bimbo on my lap looked awfully thrilled with herself as she sat on my lap grinning like a child on Christmas._

_The bitch must have drugged my drink. That was the only thing I could think of…I mean, I am a lot of things, but a cheater (in an exclusive relationship) is not one of them. It didn’t help that I don’t remember her even starting to kiss me, just that it was happening and that I didn’t want it to stop (which is also weird, since I stopped seeing Marianna last year because she wasn’t a very good kisser-and she was super clingy, but that was off topic)_

_"Really Wood, why on earth would I dump a perfectly good fire whisky on you? It would be a complete waste," she asked, batting her eyelashes at me mockingly._

_"Because you're jealous," I stated, though I’m not really sure why I continued to egg her on._

_"Nope. What is there to be jealous of?"_

_"Yes you are. You're jealous of Marianna here because it's her who I'm making out with not you," I really don't know why I am saying this; I really don't want to make out with her._

_"Where the hell did you get that assumption?"_

_"Because you thought that we were dating, but really I was just making the team better. You couldn't catch the snitch while you were sulking over that loser Chris. I couldn't let that effect the team, so I decided to cheer you up," I said, knowing that was an incredibly low blow, I could see hurt cloud her green eyes for the slightest moment, but it soon disappeared to her emotionless mask._

_I was not expecting what came next, she stood there and started to laugh, "Where'd you pull that assumption out of? Your ass? You were just a 'friend' with benefits to me."_

_I was surprised, I couldn't tell if she was lying or not, but for some reason, I really didn't think she was. That thought pissed me off, I had just been played. That had never happened before, I am always the player._

_I was pissed. I was not one to let anyone walk all over me, particularly some stupid cow. I watched as she made her way over to Chris, the bastard she had dated before me, and I watched as she kissed him. And it wasn't a light kiss either, she was making out with him like her life depended on it. I looked at her as she pulled away, and caught her eye, I quickly hid my hurt as she smirked and started to dance with him. That was a low blow; Chris still held a grudge over me from when I beat him for the spot on the Quidditch team, in his third year and my second. I think that it sort of damaged his ego. I was sure it almost killed him to watch his ex come and date me, but I hadn't really cared that was simply a bonus. It was that moment that I knew our relationship was shattered beyond repair, so I quickly stood up and grabbed another firewhiskey, having every intention of forgetting that this night happened._

Through the rest of the year we would argue and be at each other’s throats, and soon my crush (I know, shocking I actually liked a girl, not just wanted to get in their pants…) developed back into hatred. She had continued to date Chris over the summer (I found this out from Alicia, who after ignoring me till the end of the year decided that I could be forgiven for tormenting her friend).

I was not surprised to find that when we returned this year she was still mad at me. I thought about it over the summer and realized, while it may heave been my fault to begin with, she was to blame as well. She had not exactly been relatively friendly towards me at the end of the year. Quite the opposite really. And to make matters worse every time I would enter the common room she would be making out with Chris and jealousy would bubble in my throat. I soon learned to ignore it though, and eventually it disappeared all together.

But one thing was for sure, she was a bitch (not that this was surprising news to me, I had realized this during first year…I just hoped she was becoming more tolerable). She was always making rude comments to me, which of course I would retaliate. She wouldn't respect me as a captain, and it was almost a miracle when we got along. One of the rare cases being when we played chicken in the lake earlier this year. There were some days that I wondered if it would make things easier if I just explained what had happened last year. But I highly doubted she would listen to me if I did, and whenever I come close she always goes into bitch-mode again. I have no idea how Ali can stand living with her. Or being friends with her. She's crazy!

Ali still thinks that 'we're meant to be' and every time she tells me that, I laugh in her face, and tell her there is no way I will end up with her. Besides, she would never date me again anyways…Not after what happened.

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**I hope you all enjoyed this super long chapter, and a little insight on Oliver's POV! Please comment and let me know what you think!**


	6. Of News Articles and Arguments

Sunday morning I woke with a yawn, still tired from my late night. Then I remembered what happened and I glared at the red bed hangings around my four-poster bed. I would need to talk to George later and figure out what Fred's problem was. Fred would just deny that there was one, but really, it was clear that he fancied Angelina, so why was he making out with someone else?

I looked at the clock; curious about what un-Godly hour it was, and groaned when I realized it was only seven. I really did hate mornings. I sighed knowing that I was not going to get back to sleep and I grabbed book before wandering down into the common room where I curled up in a ball, in the chair closest to the fire (and the comfiest one in my opinion). The portrait hole would open occasionally and someone would walk in with a guilty look on their faces, and their hair all disheveled, I would look up for just a second, and then hide behind my book to keep from laughing. It really was quite an amusing sight, the walk of shame…or the parade of pride…depending on how the person looked at it.

I stayed there for a good two hours getting a little over half way through my book when everyone started coming down from the dorms, the funniest of them all was when Tiffany came down from the seventh year boys' dorms. She came down with her blonde hair sticking out in different directions, her thick makeup was all smeared and she was wearing a guy's t-shirt. I was pretty sure that t-shirt belonged to Wood, but I didn't really care. My theory was proved correct though, when Wood walked down behind her. She shot me a snotty look that clearly said 'ha-ha-ha-ha-he-slept-with-me-not-you!' and it was really amusing to me that she thought I cared that much. In fact I found it so funny that I could not help but to chuckle. She shot me a dirty look, clearly mad that her whole 'jealousy' thing didn't work. Wood just looked confused, but that was nothing new.

With that Tiffany walked out of the common room and up to her dormitory while Wood walked off to what I assumed was breakfast.

The next people to descend from the staircase were Ron and his friend Harry (yes…Harry Potter…). Ron grinned when he saw me and the pair made their way over.

"Hello Ronnie!" I said, smiling at him.

"Hello Tallison," he responded, and I glared (touché Ronald, touché).

"How is your third year coming along boys?" I asked, smiling at them kindly (which they ought to appreciate because that normally doesn't happen in the morning).

"It's going well…Divination is a bit wonky though…" Ron said.

"She has a strange fascination with death…" Harry added.

"That she does, so who in your class is dying?" I asked, giving them a knowing look (they were not kidding…she loved predicting someone's death).

"Me…" Harry said slowly

"If it makes you feel any better, she told Cedric Diggory that he was going to die, and he was still breathing when I saw him last night!" I said.

"See Harry, there's hope for you yet!" Ron said, smirking at his friend.

Harry in response just rolled his eyes. That's when the third part of their trio came down the stairs.

"Hello," Hermione said, smiling politely at me before looking at the boys and adding, "Ready for breakfast?"

"Yes!" Ron said, enthusiastically, "See ya Talli!"

Harry and Hermione waved before they made their way out of the common room, leaving me to my book once more. I was so interested in my book that I didn't even see Alicia come down and sit in the chair across from me.

"Morning!" Alicia said, cheerfully.

"Morning!" I responded, "How are you?"

"I'm just peachy…" she said, laughing (way too enthusiastic in the morning I tell ya), "How are you?"

"I'm alright, still trying to not vomit after seeing Tiffany this morning…"

"Who did she sleep with this time?" Alicia asked.

"Wood, and to make matters worse, Tiffany thought that I would be jealous of her because she slept with Wood, isn't that bloody hysterical?"

Alicia laughed, "Did she really?"

"Yep, why are you so cheerful though? Aren't you hung over?"

"Nope! Katie made a potion so I've already had some!"

"Ahh, well let's go to breakfast," I said, and she nodded, "I need to put my book upstairs though, and probably put on a longer pair of shorts…"

She laughed as I ran quickly upstairs and set my book down before putting on a longer pair of shorts. My shorts hadn't been terribly short like the barely covering my arse type, but they were a little too short for me to be able wear into the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall would not have approved.

Soon enough we were walking through the great oak doors towards our table. Once we reached a spot at the table I grabbed a chocolate chip muffin and started eating it. George joined us soon after.

"Hey George! Do you-"

"-Don't even ask Tal, I don't know," he said, giving me a knowing look.

"How did you know I was going to ask that? I could have been asking you if you knew that…"

"Don't even try Talli, I have known you way to long, I know you were going to ask what Fred's problem was, and like I said, I don't know, I think that he just got sick of waiting…"

I glared at him; he just smirked back at me. I couldn't tell if this was a perk of knowing each other for so long or just a downfall.

Angelina took that moment to walk into the Great Hall, no sign of her last night's problems were visible on her face.

"Hey guys!" she said cheerfully.

"Hey Ang," we said, smiling at her as she grabbed a blueberry muffin.

Wood took that moment to be an idiot (like always) and walk over and ask, "Hey Ang, are you alright? You looked a little upset last night…"

I glared, trying to tell him to shut up (even though I knew he would probably ignore me-as per usual), and Ang replied, "I'm fine; I don't know what you're talking about."

Wood looked confused again (honestly, I was beginning to think his face would freeze that way), "But-"

"Really Oliver, don't worry," Ang said, almost begging him to shut up.

He shrugged and sat down. Great.

"Hey guys!" Katie said, she was grinning widely as she took a seat next to George, who pecked her gently on the lips.

"Hey Kate!" we replied, munching on our breakfast.

"There you are Ollie!" a shrill annoying voice said from behind us, and I groaned.

"Hey Tiff!" he said, and she sat down right in between him and Alicia, who was now squished against me, glaring.

I just turned back to my food, I really didn't care if Tiffany was here, as long as she didn't talk to loud, or snog Wood. But luck was not in my favor. Soon enough her lips were attached to his. I wanted to gag. I was trying to eat! There are places to snog, but let me assure you (in case there was any doubt) that the Great Hall is not one of those places.

"Hey! I'm trying to eat here!" I said a look of disgust clearly on my face.

"Really Ollie, take it elsewhere," Alicia said, disgust written on her face as well.

He just glared, and grabbed Tiffany's hand and left, probably to go find a broom closet to snog in. Yuck.

Thursday morning was crazy. I woke up late, and didn't get breakfast. I literally ran to Potions, and for once, I thanked God for Wood's annoying Quidditch practices for keeping me in shape. I arrived to class just as the bell rang, and I smirked while Snape sneered (he was probably hoping I'd be late so he could take away even more points).

I walked over to my seat, glaring at my friends for not waking me up. Then I took my seat next to Nott, who looked saddened by the fact that I was not late.

"Today, you will be making Amortentia, this potion will take a month to brew and you will be doing this by yourself. (YES! *do a little happy dance* only I did it mentally…that might have looked a little weird to randomly start doing in class…) you can find the ingredients on page 117. Begin. You should be able to reach the dark pink by the end of today's class."

I took out my book and began flipping through pages, knowing that I needed to get started. I read through the list of ingredients that I would need today, and got up to get them. Then I set to work, very thankful that potion making ran in the family. The Prince side that is… As you could probably tell from Snape, and my dad who is his cousin was always really good at potions as well. But my mom was also a Ravenclaw so she was good at almost all of her classes as well.

I started to add my ingredients following the book directions, curious about what my potion would smell like. Soon enough my potion was the dark pink that it was supposed to be, and I turned off the fire before moving my cauldron to the designated area, and put the spell around it so that no one (the Slytherins) could tamper with it.

Once the bell rang I walked out the door and towards the Transfiguration class, dragging my feet.

"Here," Katie said, being ever the motherly one, "I grabbed you a bagel from the Great Hall when I realized you would miss breakfast."

"Thanks Kate," I said, and ate it eagerly (aka, I shoved it into my mouth in a way that was probably revolting).

We made it to Transfiguration and I sat down at my desk next to Katie, getting my materials out. I was excited for this lesson, even though I knew that I would be turning around and asking Angelina for help. On the board it said that we were turning quills into rabbits.

When McGonagall walked into the classroom all of the talking stopped and we all looked up at her waiting for her to explain what it was that we were going to be doing.

"Today you will be turning your quills into rabbits," she said sternly, "We will start with simple white quills for today. You will use the incantation ' _cuniculus_ ' and tap your quill. Now, begin."

With that we all took out a quill and began the lesson.

I was very happy when dinner came around, even if I did have to go to Quidditch practice after it. I was able to relax because none of my work was actually due tomorrow. It was also an added bonus that Allan came and talked to me as I was getting up to leave.

"Hey," he said, coming and standing next to me and I began walking out.

"Hey Allan, how are you?"

"I'm doing well; I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk around the lake, it is going to start to get cold soon…"

"I would love to Allan, but I have Quidditch practice in about a half an hour and I need to go up to my dorm to change and grab my broom…"

"That's alright," he said, "I'll let you go then, have fun at practice!"

"See ya Allan!" I said and made my way to the dorm, cursing Wood and his damn practices getting in the way of my love life.

Once up there I met with the girls and we changed, grabbed our brooms and then we were off. We were at the pitch soon after that and Wood and George were already waiting.

"Hey!" Alicia said, practically skipping (though I really have no idea why…).

We waited for a few moments until seven, when practice was supposed to start, then we did our exercises and were up in the air.

"I want you to practicing your diving today Prince!" Wood shouted at me from his position at the hoops, I nodded showing that I had heard him.

I practiced my diving all practice and it felt amazing. I did some little dives, and some where I would pull up at the last possible second, and it was a blast. Diving was one of my favorite things to do on a broom. With that being said, I was actually in a good mood at the end of practice, and that hardly ever happens. Normally I am in a bad mood because Wood is yelling at me for taking to long to catch the bloody snitch, and seeing as I wasn't practicing with the snitch today he didn't have much to yell at me for. Just a few tips on how to correct my form when I was diving (and I couldn't be too mad at him for that since it was his job as captain…).

All of us (Fred showed up about half way through practice and did three laps, he had been on a date with Terri…and forgot we had practice-moron) were in the changing rooms packing our stuff up after our showers so that we could get back up to the common room and sleep, or do homework.

Slowly everyone filtered out and exited the changing rooms, everyone but Wood and I. Awkward…The last time we were in the changing rooms alone some serious snogging happened…I knew that he was thinking the same thing because he looked at me, and then sent me a wink and a smirked, I just glared, not that it was a bad memory…well it wouldn't be if it had been anyone but him. Or a Slytherin. I walked out of the changing room, somewhat quickly, and went right to bed. But that memory just wouldn't leave me alone. Much to my dismay.

_It had been somewhat of a rough practice, but that was understandable, the cup was coming up this weekend and we needed to win. Everyone was silently making their ways out of the changing rooms, all exhausted and wanting nothing more than to go to bed. I had just finished packing up my stuff when a pair of hands grabbed my hips. I grinned as he started placing kisses on my neck. I turned around quickly and planted a kiss onto his lips, putting my hands loosely around his neck, and then moving them slowly up to his hair. His tongue began tracing my bottom lip, begging for entrance, which I happily granted. Our tongues danced and I felt my back hit the wall. His hands were moving slowly down to my arse, and I moaned. I could feel his mouth curve into a smirk, and I moved my hips, making him moan. It was my turn to smirk. He grabbed the back of my thighs, and I quickly jumped up, wrapping my legs around him, both of us groaning at the contact._

Needless to say, we had stayed there snogging for quite sometime…and with that bittersweet memory I drifted off to sleep.

The rest of the week passed fairly slowly, and the weekend was kind of a blur. We were currently sitting around in the Great Hall shoveling food into our mouths, as it was the Halloween feast. I could hear some mindless chatter through out the hall as well as people talking about how people were speculating that Sirius Black was near Hogwarts. Needless to say, that last piece of information was putting everyone on edge. Honestly though, I wasn't quite sure why, it's not like he could actually break into the castle.

"I think Halloween is my favorite time of year…" Angelina said.

"What because of all the candy?" I said, smirking.

"Exactly because of all the candy, it's delicious!"

"Remember 2nd year when we had the competition to see who could eat the most pieces in 5minutes?" Katie said, laughing at the memory.

"I seem to recall that none of you made it to class the next day because you were all too sick…" George said, laughing.

"Angelina couldn't accept that I won…" Alicia said.

"Lee was helping you by sneaking wrappers into your pile!" Angelina accused.

"Hey now!" Lee said, pretending to look offended, "I did no such thing!"

"Don't lie to me Lee…" Angelina glared at him.

"Ang, it's been 4 years…I think it's time you let it go…" Fred said, teasing her.

"I will not let it go until she admits I won!"

"I will never! Because you didn't!"

"I totally did!"

"Guys…" I said, "I think you are both delusional, Katie clearly won…"

"Katie ate the least amount!" Angelina said, looking at me confused…until the realization dawned on her, "Oh…"

At that we all burst into laughter. The rest of our dinner passed in a similar manner, we had a rematch to see who could eat the most candy and this year there was no question that Lee and Alicia cheated. Even with their cheating they were not a match from Angelina (though I could have sworn I saw Fred adding to her pile too).

After the challenge, feeling sick to our stomachs, we made our way towards the common room. On our way there we noticed people gathered around outside the portrait. Alicia jumped up, trying to see what was going on.

"Guys, I think something's wrong with the portrait…it looks slashed," she said, and we all looked at her.

"Do you think someone was trying to joke around?" I asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to see what's going on," Katie said, her inner Prefect coming out.

We watched as she walked through the crowd and out of sight. Shortly later Dumbledore made his way through the crowd and I had a sinking feeling that this wasn't someone pulling a prank. My fears were confirmed when Katie came back, her eyes looking fearful.

"Percy said that Sirius Black tried to break into the common room…" she said, "The castle is going on lockdown and we are all falling asleep in the Great Hall…I need to go and talk with the other Prefects…"

With that, Katie disappeared again, and we all exchanged nervous looks.

"I would like everyone to make their way back towards the Great Hall, you will sleeping there tonight," Dumbledore announced, looking curiously around at all the pictures.

"Do you think he's still in the castle?" Alicia asked, as we moved back towards the Great Hall.

"I have no idea…" I responded, "But I really hope not…"

"Me too…" she said.

Once we got to the Great Hall, the Professors were starting to place cots out, placing them in straight neat rows.

"Did you guys hear what happened?" Wood said, looking nervously at us (I could have sworn I saw relief flash through his eyes when he spotted us).

"Katie said that Black was in the castle…" Alicia said, shivering.

"That's what Percy said, he told me that he tried to break into the common room…"

"He did…" I said, "He slashed the portrait…"

"Do we hope he's still in the castle?"

"We are hoping not Mr. Wood," Professor McGonagall said, "Now, if you would all go and lay down on cots please, we are trying to find how many people are here, and if we are missing any students. Gryffindor cots are over in the far left corner."

"Of course Professor," Wood said, and we all made our way over to the corner, sitting on different cots.

For the rest of the night we sat or laid in silence, eventually tossing and turning, trying to sleep. I don't think that anyone in the castle was going to sleep well that night, everyone kept looking closely at the doors; jumping every time a professor went in or out. Each of us nervous that Sirius Black was trying to break in and kill us all. I know that was a slightly irrational fear, I mean the chances of him taking all of us out were slim, but they did say that he killed Peter Pettigrew so violently that they only found his finger…so we didn't really know what he was capable of.

That was my last thought before I dozed off for the first time, knowing that it was going to be a restless night.

 

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**Well, things are getting a little more intense now that's for sure...Anyways! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please comment and let me know that you think! :)**


	7. Of Girls Nights

I walked into the Great Hall the next Saturday morning excited. It was the Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw game. I was wearing blue to show my support for Ravenclaw, just like I promised Allan I would. I stuck out like a sore thumb from my friends though; they were all wearing yellow and black, supporting the 'Puffs, well except for Lee, he was in blue as well because his girlfriend was in Ravenclaw, and on the team.

"Morning guys!" I said, grinning happily, the idea of spending the game with Allan was putting me in a great mood.

"Morning Talli!" Alicia said happily, everyone else just glared at her, it was  _way_  too early to sound that cheerful.

Soon enough most of the student body was in the Great Hall and Dumbledore stood up. This shocked me because he very rarely stood up to make announcements in the mornings; normally it was at night right before dinner.

"Good morning," he said, and a few people (*coughFredandGeorgecough*) said good morning back (most of them were said very obnoxiously back, might I add…), "Now I am sure you are all wondering why I am up here talking to you. (I'd say that was obvious) I would have waited until tonight, but I decided to give our Quidditch players more incentive to win today (not that it was needed, we all wanted to win the cup). I am pleased to announce that next year Hogwarts will be hosting the Junior Quidditch World Cup. This is, for those of you that do not already know (so everyone but a few know-it-all Ravenclaws…) the Junior Quidditch World Cup is a Quidditch tournament where different schools compete against each other, the winning team getting free tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, as well as getting to meet the competing teams."

He paused and let the information sink in, I was already super excited, and I knew that we had to win. Now even more so.

"Now you may be wondering why I am telling you this now," he continued, his blue eyes twinkling more than normal (yeah, I know, I wasn't sure eyes could twinkle either, so when Bill and Charlie had told me that his did, I didn't believe them, until I saw his eyes. Sorry, that was really off topic wasn't it? Oh well…) "Well, that is because the team that wins the Quidditch Cup this year will be the team that will represent Hogwarts in the Junior World Cup next year (cue excited chatter from the entire student body). Now, I believe that we have a Quidditch Match that needs to be played, so let us finish our breakfast and make our way the pitch."

The excited chatter filled the entire hall, everyone was ecstatic, and all of us Quidditch players had only one thing going through our minds:  _We need to win the Cup._ Too bad for all of the other houses, Gryffindor was going to win. I just knew we were.

Soon we had finished eating and I was walking down to the pitch with Allan, who looked absolutely adorable in his blue sweater.

"So are you ready for the game?" I asked, smiling brightly at him.

"Yes, I read about half of the Quidditch books in the Library…" he said, giving me a goofy grin.

"You truly are a Ravenclaw…" I said, laughing.

"Yes, yes I am," he said, smirking.

"So do you still need me to explain it? Or do you get it for the most part?" I asked.

"I actually think I get it, but you should watch the game with me just in case I have a question."

"Oh, I would have watched it with you anyways," I said, smiling at him.

"Good," he said, looking pleased.

We made our way into the Ravenclaw stands where we stood by his friend Devon and his girlfriend Abby.

"Hey guys!" I said, brightly.

"Hi Talli!" Abby said, tossing her straight black hair over her shoulder.

Since we arrived to the pitch a little late because Allan wanted to finish up eating his muffin, Lee's voice rang out.

"HERE COMES THE RAVENCLAW QUIDDITCH TEAM, CAPTIAN AND CHASER DAVIES IN THE LEAD, BEHIND HIM IS HIS FELLOW CHASERS BURROW AND STRETTON! NEXT COME THE BEATERS SAMUELS AND INGLEBEE! HERE COMES THE KEEPER PAGE! AND FINALLY MY LOVELY GIRLFRIEND JOY STRETTON AS SEEKER!" Lee's voice rang throughout the entire pitch, "THE HUFFLEPUFF TEAM IS RIGHT BEHIND THEM! CAPTIAN DIGGORY AS SEEKER, THE CHASERS ARE PREECE, MACAVOY AND APPLEBEE FOLLOWED BY THE BEATERS O'FLAHERTY AND RICKETT! AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST KEEPER FLEET!"

I could see Madame Hooche talking to the Captains, and I saw the dark and handsome Rodger Davies shake hands with the smiling and friendly Cedric Diggory. Then the game began; Lee commentating the entire thing.

"BURROW WITH THE QUAFFLE, HE'S FLYING DOWN THE PITCH HE SHOOTS AND HE…MISSED. COME ON! PREECE WITH THE QUAFFLE NOW, HE GETS TO THE HOOPS AND SHOOTS…HE SCORES! 10-0 TO HUFFLEPUFF!"

The game continued for about two hours, the snitch being nowhere in sight. The score was currently at 120-110 to Ravenclaw.

"Do the matches normally last this long?" asked Allan, looking slightly bored.

"No, normally they don't, but there have been much long matches in the past. In the World Cup of 1962 the game lasted two days, they had to switch out the regular starters for the reserves so the starters could get some sleep and some food," I informed him.

"Really?" he asked, "That must have been dreadful…"

"I think it would have been kind of fun to be at a game that lasted that long, it must have been a great game!" I said, and all of the Ravenclaws around me turned and gave me a disbelieving look, all of them surprised.

I shrugged, not caring too much if the Ravenclaws thought I was crazy, I figured most people thought that about me anyways considering I was probably the only person in the school who could not stand Oliver Wood. You would think that there would be more people in the school who thought he was a conceited arse, but no. I would know too. I tried to start a club in fifth year, I even offered to get t-shirts, and sadly the club did not last very long. Maybe I should try again…I'm sure with his number of 'ex-girlfriends' one of them would have some brains…wait who was I kidding, they were all idiots (other than me of course)…

Somewhere in my daydreams about starting the Oliver Wood hate club Joy caught the snitch and Ravenclaw won. I found out later it was only because Cedric took a bludger to the head (poor guy…I might have looked like I was supporting Ravenclaw, but I was hoping the Cedric would do well).

"See was that too bad?" I asked Allan as we walked back to school, though I wasn't really thinking because he grabbed my hand.

"Yes," he said, laughing, "How you love the sport I will never know…'

I laughed, and he smiled.

"So do you want to hang out tonight?" he asked, a hopeful look on his face.

I gave him a sad look, "Sorry Allan, the girls and I are having a girl's night tonight."

"That's okay," he said, smiling sadly, "You need to hang out with the girls, after having spent so much time with me this week."

I chuckled, and kissed him on the cheek because we were at my common room.

"I'll see you Talli, have fun tonight!" he said, as he walked away.

I walked up to the girls' dorm, to find all of the girls sitting around.

"So girls, what's the plan tonight?" I asked, knowing the answer, we did the same thing every time.

"At six we are going to the kitchens to eat our dinner of ice cream and cake, and then we are going swimming in the Prefects bathroom, only to come back up here and take magazine quizzes and paint our nails," Katie replied, giggling slightly.

"Awesome," I said, going to my trunk to grab my black sweatpants, my purple and white bikini and my purple tank top and went into the bathroom and changed.

At six we all made our way into the common room and off to the kitchens, all of us in our sweatpants with our swim suites underneath. We walked through the halls giggling, earning ourselves weird looks from some of the younger students passing by.

We tickled the pear and walked into the kitchen where the house elves greeted us with small bows.

"What can Star get Miss?" Star said coming up and asking Katie first.

"We'll get cookie dough ice cream with nuetella and chocolate cake, please," Katie said politely, and the house elf nodded quickly and they all started working on it.

Us girls sat ourselves down at the table and waited for our food.

"So Katie," I asked, grinning, "You and Georgey-boy official yet?"

She blushed slightly, "Not quite, well, we have plans for another date, and obviously we've kissed, but he hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend yet…"

"What you do in that situation is get another boy to make him jealous," Alicia said.

"Umm no offense Alicia, but that would not be a good idea for you to do Katie," Angelina said, "George would not like that; in fact he probably would get angry because he would feel cheated on."

"Yeah he would…" I said.

"Oh well, what about you and Mr. Allan?" Katie asked, trying to take the attention off of her and George.

"Nope, we hang out enough to be a couple but he had yet to ask me out even on a date."

"Oh Talli!" they said giving me sympathetic looks, though I wasn't really upset, just hoping he would hurry up…

"I'm sure he'll ask soon!" Angelina assured me.

"I hope so," I said, and that was the end of that conversation because the food came and we were too busy stuffing our faces.

After we ate so much we could hardly walk we got up and walked (slowly) towards the Prefect bathroom, where Katie gave the password 'superiority', and we started the biggest bath, and filled it with apple smelling soap.

Once the tub was full, we slowly sat back up and took off our layers until we were only in our swimsuits and then we jumped in and then floated around because we were to full to around and swim.

"I think that I am going to name my food baby Marlene," I said randomly.

"Marlene, I like that name…" Katie said, not even questioning why I was thinking about naming my food baby, "I think I'm going to name mine Roxanne."

"My food baby's name is Tabitha!" Alicia said, and we all gave her a funny looked.

"Well I'm going to name mine Erica!" Angelina said, and we all giggled at the names.

This is why these girls were my best friends, the understood my weirdness. In fact, most of the time they contributed to mine with their own.

After we floated around in the bath for about an hour we made our way back up the stairs and into the dormitories where Alicia took out her massive pile of  _Witch Weeklys_ that she had been saving up for who knows how long. We each grabbed one at random and started talking the quizzes. Mine was on 'Who is your Quidditch Boyfriend?'

"I GOT VIKTOR KRUM!" I said, giggling hysterically (I think the sugar was really starting to kick in) , "If I were his girlfriend does that would give me an excuse to look at his bum doesn't it?"

This caused the girls to laugh, probably.

"Of course," Alicia responded, "As long as you shared the butt…because he probably has the finest bum in all of Quidditch!"

"Of course…I mean…sharing is caring right?" that sent us all into another fit of giggles.

"Yes!" Katie said, grinning, "I am playing the correct Quidditch position! 'As a chaser you are a go-getter, not stopping until you get the results you want.' What do ya know?"

"Apparently I'm not…" Alicia said laughing, "I should be playing beater I guess…Apparently I 'have a lot of rage that I need to let out'."

I smirked and yelled down to the common room, "HEY GEORGE! YOU'VE BEEN REPLACED AS A BEATER! YOU'RE NOW A CHASER!"

We all laughed as the common room went completely silent.

"PRINCE WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TELLING MY PLAYER WHAT POSITION HE PLAYS?" Wood's Scottish voice came from the bottom of the stairs; I just laughed and started painting my nails a bright electric green.

"YEAH TALLI! MAYBE I DON'T WANT TO PLAY CHASER!" George said the laughter apparent in his voice, "DON'T TELL ME HOW TO LIVE MY LIFE!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE, ALICIA IS REPLACING YOU, HER QUIZ SAYS THAT SHE WOULD MAKE A GOOD BEATER!" I said, laughing so hard tears were streaming down my face.

"DAMN YOU ALICIA! DAMN YOU!" George cried from the bottom of the stairs.

I think that the common room was probably incredibly concerned with all of our shouting. The poor first years probably all thought we were batshit crazy. I'm not really sure why it would come as a surprise though…you'd think people would have learned.

We all laughed and enjoyed the rest of our Saturday night, gossiping and taking even more quizzes. We eventually all passed out on Angelina's bed, knowing in the morning we would all be sore from sleeping in funny positions, but none of us caring.

* * *

**Hey all! I hope you are enjoying the story thus far! I am really enjoying going through and editing it, I really do love working with these characters! Please remember to comment and kudos! They make my day, and encourage me to work faster and get the next chapters out! :)**


	8. Of Dates, Alarms and Wars

I was sitting in the Library, shocking, I know. Normally I'm in and out quickly, simply grabbing a book and heading on my way, but Allan insisted. Since, I really wanted to spend time with him, and sadly he wanted to get all of his homework done because tomorrow was Hogsmeade and he didn't want to worry about it Sunday, I found myself in the sad place of the Library on a Friday night. Luckily, I did not have that much homework this weekend, but in a way I suppose that is unlucky as well, because that means I am basically stuck sitting in the hot and stuffy Library. Allan is so lucky I enjoy spending time with him. I took out my quill and my parchment and started writing a letter to my parents, explaining the Junior Quidditch Cup (that I was definitely going to be playing in next year).

"How about we go take a walk?" I asked, trying (and failing) to keep the pleading out of my voice (as I had just finished my letter and was now incredibly bored), "It looks so lovely outside and there won't be many more nice days. I'm surprised it's still warm at all, because it's nearly the end of October."

"You really don't like sitting still do you?" he asked, grinning, but he decided to put me out of my misery and started to pack up.

"Nope, not unless I have a really good book!"

"You are in the Library Talli, you are surrounded by good books," he informed me, laughing as I just shrugged.

With that we ventured from the Library out onto the grounds. While the wind was chilly, the sun was out and shinning, making the weather nice. We decided to go for a walk around the lake. We talked about some of the most random things, laughing and just generally enjoying ourselves. But eventually I grew hungry, and my stomach started to growl.

"How about we head in and eat?" he asked, laughing.

I just nodded, and together we headed up towards the castle, at the door we said our goodbyes because he wasn't hungry yet and was going to go back to the Library.

"So I'll see you tomorrow at one?" He asked.

"Yeah, at the Three Broomsticks," I replied, smiling, before pecking him on the cheek and making my way towards the Great Hall, only to stop because I could hear an argument.

Normally I wouldn't care who was arguing, even though Alicia would love to hear the gossip, but I recognized the voices this time. So, naturally being nosey I stopped to listen.

"WHY CAN'T YOU SPEND ALL OF TOMORROW WITH ME?" she yelled, in a high voice that almost made me want to cover my ears.

"Because, I already told the boys I would spend part of the day with them," he replied, calmly, "Why can't you just spend the morning with your friends? They can help you pick out a dress for the New Year's Bash."

"WHY CAN'T I JUST SPEND THE MORNING WITH MY FRIENDS? BECAUSE ALL OF MY FRIENDS HAVE NORMAL BOYFRIENDS WHO THEY ARE GOING TO SPEND THE WHOLE DAY WITH!" She said, before storming out of the classroom, Lee following her out about a minute later.

I was surprised, I had always thought of their relationship as perfect. They were always incredibly happy with each other and lovey dovey-so much so it was normally sickening. I don't think I had ever seen them angry at each other, and while she may annoy the shit out of me most of the time, it was still sad to see Lee that upset. With that thought I followed them towards the Great hall, excited to eat.

I woke up early, okay, it was 9, but that's early! For me anyways… So I showered and got ready wearing dark jeans and a bright blue sweater, before I charmed my hair to stay curly. I put on a little makeup and headed down to the Great Hall where I found Alicia sitting there eating her muffin, and reading the newspaper intently.

"Hey Alicia," I said, plopping down next to her, "What's up? I don't think I have ever seen you reading the paper that intently, or anything other than a fashion or Quidditch magazine."

"People are starting to disappear," she said, and that made me stop smiling, "They aren't just random disappearance though, they're either lower Ministry works or members of a Ministry workers' family, people known to support muggle borns. Everyone is starting to worry because this is how You-Know-Who rose to power the first time."

I just sat there quietly, not knowing how I was supposed to respond to this. The very idea that You-Know-Who sent chills down my spine, I did not even want to think about someone who might be a copycat.

Alicia must have noticed my silence because she quickly added, "Your parents aren't on the list, I don't recognize any of the names."

I breathed a sigh of relief, happy to know that my family was all right. We might be a pure blood family, but my father never did accept the purist values of his family. From what I heard from my parents' whisperings when I was younger, he tried to stay neutral through the war. My mom on the other hand, had been very vocal in her position of opposing You-Know-Who, and that piece of knowledge did not sit well with me.

We ate in silence until Angelina and Katie joined us, both of us trying to process the news.

"Hey girls are you excited for dress shopping today?" Ang asked and Alicia and I jumped on the idea of changing our thoughts.

"Definitely!" Alicia said, we all needed dresses for the Spinets'' Annual New Year's Bash (well, minus Angelina since she bought one on her birthday).

It has been two fucking hours and none of us have found 'the perfect dress' as Alicia put it. I swear after entering three dress shops one would think someone would find a dress, but no, here we were entering the third shop. I was starting to pick up random dresses my size and trying them on, hoping one would work. Soon enough we were trying dresses on again.

Katie came out of her dressing room wearing a cute blue dress. It was spaghetti strapped and there were sequins on the top. It flowed away from her starting right under her bust and went down to almost her knees. It was adorable on her.

"Katie, you need to get that dress!" Angelina squealed, and Alicia and I nodded in agreement.

She just smiled and changed back into her regular clothes, and bought the dress.

Next it was my turn. I tried on a few before I found one that we all liked. It was strapless with the sweetheart neckline and it had blue beading on the top, with a few sequins and red gems, then it flowed from my bust in a pinkish purple color fabric. It was gorgeous.

Alicia tried on multiple dresses, but none of them seemed to fit them, so I bought my dress and we made our way into a fifth store, where we went on a hunt for the perfect dresses. We found finally found a perfect dress for Alicia.

Her dress was like a silky material that was in all different shades of colors, and then multicolored gems under the bust, which plunged slightly. Under the strip of gems the dress was in pleats. It was perfect for her.

After we found her dress I could feel the nerves bubbling in my stomach, because I knew that I was going to meeting Allan in the Three Broom Sticks.

After she bought it, we sent our dresses back to the dorm and I made my way to the Three Broomsticks where Allan was waiting (I may or may not have been a little late…).

"Hey," I said, smiling at him, "Sorry, I hope you weren't here long, it was a pain in my arse to find the perfect dresses for the party, which you are invited to, by the way."

"Don't worry I wasn't here long," he said, smiling, "I hope I'll be able to make it, what color is your dress?"

"Allan, you don't need to pretend like you care, I'm not that type of girl," I said, laughing, "But since you asked it is a pinkish purple color."

"Sounds beautiful," he said with a grin.

"So what did you do this morning?" I asked.

"Not much slept in and walked around the village."

"That sounds like fun, I'm jealous!"

"Oh I bet you are," he said winking, but just as I was about to respond a dark shaded figure showed up behind him, and I groaned, knowing this was not going to be good.

"We have practice tomorrow morning Prince. I am expecting you to be there at seven o'clock sharp. If you are late you're running laps," Wood said, before stalking off to join the I-am-looking-extra-fake-today Tiffany was standing.

"Wow, what crawled up his arse and died?" Allan asked, "Isn't Sunday supposed to be a free day?"

"Not when your Oliver Wood and Quidditch is involved," I replied bitterly, "And I think something did crawl up there, but it's been up there so long that there is nothing anyone can do to help…"

Allan laughed at that, and we sat there and enjoyed butter beer, food, and each other's company for the rest of the evening.

"I believe it is time for us to head back to the Castle," he said, standing up and taking my hand.

"I suppose your right; I should try to sleep considering I have to face all hell tomorrow morning."

We walked towards the carriages and were almost at one when his friends called out, "ALLAN!" and beckoned him over.

"I guess I'm being summoned," he said sadly, but he gave me an unexpected kiss (with a shocking amount of passion) on the lips before leaving.

I know I was expecting sweet and innocent from him, but I can't say that I am disappointed. But sadly, after the kiss he made his way over to his friends who were wolf whistling, and I got into the carriage, where George and Katie soon joined me.

"I take the date went well?" I asked, noticing the huge grins on both of their faces.

I swear, if it were anyone else I would have sworn that they had just had sex. But it was them, meaning it must have been a great date.

"Yeah," Katie said, smiling, and looking positively radiant.

We rode the rest of the way in a comfortable silence, and once we made it back to the castle we quickly went to sleep, knowing that practice tomorrow was going to be terrible.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!" the alarm clock annoyingly rang.

"Someone turn the damn alarm off!" Angelina screeched, and Alicia got up and silenced it before letting out a shriek.

"What time does practice start?" she asked, sounding nervous.

"Seven…"I mumbled, slowly rolling over to the edge of my bed-ready to roll off.

"SHIT!" She yelled, "We need to move, it's exactly seven!"

We all jumped out of bed and threw on whatever we could find, not caring whose stuff it was. Before sprinting down towards the pitch, putting our hair up as we ran (and let me tell you, that took a lot of talent).

"Katie, I think that I grabbed your sports bra! My boobs are freaking squished!" called Angelina, and we all would have giggled at her if we had the breath.

"Ang, I think I grabbed your shorts!" I yelled, pulling them up and rolling them, which is incredibly hard to do when you're running, really, it must have looked hilarious.

We finally reached the locker room and sprinted in, grabbed our brooms and were about to run out onto the field when Angelina said, "I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL THEM!"

I was confused at first until I turned at looked at the clock only to find that it was 6:45 and we were early.

"THOSE BASTARDS-" Angelina continued to scream.

"Ang, breath it will be okay," Alicia, said, while she was a morning person she found it slightly funnier than the rest of that were not, "We can get them back…"

"Not we can…"I said, "We will."

"I thought I set the alarm for 6:30…" Katie said.

We all groaned and sat down in the locker room, waiting for practice to start.

Practice morning was a tough one. We played well, but with Wood everything had to be perfect. So by the time we made it back to the Great Hall for Brunch we were exhausted. I didn't even notice all of the people staring at me. I sat down and started piling food onto my plate and grabbing the Daily Prophet that the owl had just dropped off to me. I almost spit out the food in my mouth when I saw the headline: **The Future is Looking Grim**. I quickly skimmed the article, not sure what I should be expecting, but judging from the title I know it would not be good. The article talked about how there was an increasing number of people disappearing, people who had been vocal against You-Know-Who. It talked about how they expected Sirius Black was behind it, trying to get revenge for You-Know-Who's I was about to put the paper down when a name popped out to me: _Vivien Prince_ under the headline that was Missing. My heart dropped, and I suddenly noticed the stares. I quickly got out of my seat and left the hall, going to write a letter to my father. Hoping and praying that it wasn't true, but I knew in my heart it was. I grabbed a quill, some ink and some parchment and went up to one of the towers that was not as well known, wanting to be alone. I could feel my heart pounding, and I thought I was going to vomit. The tears were threatening to fall from my eyes, and I could feel my hand shaking as I wrote my letter, begging my father to tell me it wasn't true.


	9. Of Christmal

It was Monday, December 20th, and it was absolutely crazy. Today was the day that everyone went home for the holidays, and it was even crazier with people wanting to see their families. Rumors were starting to go around that it was going to be like when You-Know-Who rose to power (some speculating that it was You-Know-Who, but those theories were quickly shot down). The newspaper (Merlin knows they're always right…not.) claimed that who ever it was would start attacking the homes of witches and wizards all over the country. I thought it was a load of bullshit, but then again, they had started kidnaping the families to major Ministry figures, my mother being the perfect example of that.

We grabbed our bags, thankful that we had sent our dresses to Alicia's by owl (those would have been a bitch to pack nicely into the trunks), and sprinted down towards the train. We may or may not have been (read: we definitely were) running a little late this morning, the alarm hadn't gone off and if it wasn't for the fact that Alicia was an earlier riser we would have missed the train. Thankfully Katie made us pack our bags the night before, so we just needed to change and run. Once we reached the doors of the train there were a bunch of Slytherin first years standing in the doorway, clearly in our way onto the train. They kept smirking at each other…I think they thought they were being funny.

"Stupid first years…" Alicia grumbled, glaring angrily at them (and let me tell you…it was a pretty terrifying glare).

"Move!" I yelled (probably much louder than I should have), I swear that one of them jumped, but they covered it up with a sneer.

"You can't block the door…" Katie said, sweetly, "Do you need any help?"

They just sneered at her, but scurried away when Alicia reached for her wand. She wouldn't have hexed them…I don't think. But it caused Alicia and I to start giggling, while Katie tried not to laugh, and glared at us. Angelina was half asleep and missed most of the exchange.

"Why aren't we on the train?" she complained, sleepily.

We boarded the gleaming red train, and looked for the boys, who would surely already be on the train. We soon found Fred, George and Lee who were sitting with Terri and Joy, but once I got a little closer I noticed that Wood and Tiffany were sitting there as well and I started to walk away from the compartment. I would have made it too, if Katie hadn't opened the door, and Alicia hadn't grabbed my hand and dragged me in after her. I glared at the back of her head, and she just turned and gave me a smirk.

The compartment was going to be a tight fit, I could already tell, there really should only be six people in the compartment, and we were trying to squeeze in nine. I sat down next to Fred, who was farthest away from Wood and Tiffany. Katie came in and gave George a peck on the lips, and settled down in the tiny spot next to him, while he put his freckly arm around her, pulling her close. Then Alicia sent me a grin and wiggled herself directly in between Wood and Tiffany, why she would inflict such torture on herself, I would never know, but then again, she was friends with Wood. I had to pinch myself from laughing at the outraged look Tiffany had on her face…Wood on the other hand looked as if he was expecting her to do that (and to be honest, he probably was). Angelina sighed, and walked over to me and sat down on my lap.

"Well, hi Ang," I said, laughing, she just turned and stuck her tongue out at me before resting her head against the window and falling asleep.

The group made small talk for about a half an hour before Alicia fell asleep; on Wood's shoulder of course. I think she was just trying to piss of Tiffany because I knew that she wasn't actually tired. Wood must have been thinking the same thing because when he noticed he just rolled his eyes. Tiffany on the other hand was pissed-well, more than she was after Alicia sat down (it really was quite funny). Her face turned bright red as she tried to control herself. I thought that she would explode when he put his arm around her, allowing Alicia to cuddle closer. The rest of us (except maybe Terri) knew that there was nothing and never would be anything between them (both of them claimed that the other knew too much), but Tiffany, being an idiot, did not. So what else would she do other than shoot Wood a 'sexy' look (which totally failed, by the way) and nodded towards the door.

I tried my hardest not to laugh at the over eager look on his face as he got up. Completely forgetting about Alicia who was half on top of him at that point, so she fell to the floor in a heap. That is when I truly lost it, as Wood ran out of the compartment before she had time to realize what had happened and castrate him.

Once both of them were out of sight, she started laughing, and got back up on the seat, spreading out, and almost kicking Katie in the face. I put my head on Fred's shoulder; trying to ignore the worried look he and George kept shooting my way. I kept telling everyone I was fine, I couldn't stand the looks of pity. Eventually everyone stopped, except Fred and George. They should know that my mom and I weren't close. Of course, that didn't really help matters like I claimed it did.

I must have fallen asleep because I woke suddenly when the train jerked to a stop, I nearly fell out of the seat but Fred caught me in time. Alicia was still sleeping when the train stopped, and I quickly rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Wood and Tiffany entered the compartment looking slightly disheveled, and Tiffany had a triumphant look on her face that she kept shooting at Alicia and me. It really was funny, she still hadn't gotten it in her mind that I didn't give a shit about her and Wood. When Wood saw that Alicia was a sleep he smirked, took out his wand, and shot water at her.

"OLIVER WOOD I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" she screeched, grabbing her bag and chased off of the train, promising revenge (and I am pretty sure with how loudly she was screaming the entire platform knew what she was plotting to do).

The rest of us sat there laughing and Tiffany looked angry that he left without saying goodbye, but if you wanted my opinion (not that you really have a choice…) I would say that they got enough of a goodbye earlier. George, Fred and I said our goodbyes to everyone and made our way over to where our parents were waiting, along with Ginny and Ron and his two friends, Harry and Hermione. Our fathers were taking in hushed tones, looking nervous. Once Mrs. Weasley (or Momma Weasley as I often call her) caught sight of us she came running towards us, enveloping me in a huge hug.

"I am so sorry honey," she whispered in my ear, and for the first time since the day I read the paper I felt the desperate need to cry (the need that I had been suppressing since my break down when I found out).

I just ignored it, and hugged her back tight. She then let go of me and turned and hugged the twins as the 'tried' to pull away, their ears turning somewhat red. But they were happy to see their mom. I walked over to my father and he shook hands firmly with Mr. Weasley before turning towards me.

"You ready to go?" he asked me, and I nodded, and we made our way off of the platform and out to the parking lot.

When we got there I spotted the shinning black Ministry car immediately. We got in and began the silent car ride home. I swear you could have cut the tension with a knife. We spent the entire hour ride home like that. I don't know what I expected; my father was never one to talk. I guess I was just hoping for an explanation. I mean my mother was missing for Merlin's sake! He had to have at least an idea about why she was missing of all people.

I never understood why Mr. Weasley and my father were such good friends. Mr. Weasley was outgoing and always curious about new things while my father was closed off and stayed on the safe side, keeping a safe job at the Ministry. Mr. Weasley always claimed that when my father was younger he was outgoing and fun, I highly doubted.

Once I got home I made my way quickly towards the grand staircase to go upstairs to my too large, too clean, and not like me. That was until my father stopped (finally deciding that he could, in fact speak).

"We aren't staying here," he told me, "We are going to the countryside home."

I grinned, that was second favorite house, right behind the beach house (that we owned at least, the Burrow was by far my favorite). It had plenty of space to fly because there was no one around to see and my room was light purple, and had Quidditch posters all over the walls. We made our way towards the extravagant fireplace and flooed to the house.

It was strange, I thought, as I stumbled out of the fireplace, seeing the ground covered in white, fluffy, snow. I made my way quickly up to my room, happy (well, kind of). I walked up to my room and set my trunk down, and walked to the window, looking over at expansive country. And I smiled, happy that we were going to be spending Christmas here this year. I sat on my bed, and sighed, looking around the room. It was great to be here, but there was an obvious elephant in the house (one that my father seemed very adamant about ignoring). Eventually I dozed off, tossing and turning in my bed.

It had been three days since we had arrived and my father still had not told me anything. The most we had talked was small talk and when he asked me a few questions about how school was going. Needles to say, I was extremely angry now. One would think that I had a right to know what was going on! And that night at dinner I finally cracked. I stood up angrily, my chair falling over behind me.

"ARE YOU GOING TO TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?" I asked angrily, and probably a lot louder than necessary, my father just looked shocked (if it was any other circumstance I would have probably found his wide eyes quite hilarious), "MY MUM WAS KIDNAPPED FOR MERLIN'S SAKE! SHE IS MISSING AND YOU HAVEN'T SAID A DAMN THING ABOUT IT! THIS IS MY MOTHER…YOUR WIFE…AND SHE'S GONE! DON'T YOU THINK THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT?!"

My father sighed sadly and said, "Why don't you sit down Tallison."

"Call me Talli!" I said, angrily (honestly, it was such a small thing but my emotions were high and I was snapping).

"Talli, why don't you sit down," he said calmly (how the fuck could he sit there so calmly?!), "I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to worry (I snorted at that-it was honestly so far past that point it was almost laughable) nor did I want to get you involved. It would have only made you a bigger target than you already are (what the fuck? Who would want anything to do with me?). As you have probably read in the  _Prophet_ we have a murder on the loose. Well, what the prophet is reporting is that this person is just picking people at random, or going after well known pure blood families. What they do not know, is that this person is going after people who opposed You-Know-Who or people who did not join him."

"Like mum…" I mumbled.

"Just like your mother, especially since her family was considered powerful in this time, especially since your Grandfather was Minister."

"So, this person took mum because of something that happened 13years ago?"

"We have reason to believe," my father said grimly.

"Are there any leads?" I asked, scared to hear answer that I didn't want.

"The only suspect we currently have is Sirius Black," my father said, and for the first time I noticed just how terrible he looked. He had definitely lost weight, his hair was disheveled, he had stubble on his face and dark purple circles under his eyes.

"Do you have any ideas on who his next victims could be?" I asked, feeling ready to vomit- this was too much to take in.

"The Ministry is taking precautions, anyone who fought against him the first time has been notified and given new security procedures. The Ministry has listed us as high risk, since your mother is already missing and I refused to joining the Death Eaters when You-Know-Who was in power."

"So what are our security procedures?" I asked, feeling absolutely nauseous, I was not so sure I wanted to have this conversation with my father any more, I almost preferred the silence.

"Our first procedure was coming to the countryside house, our hope was that if someone really was going to attack us, they would go to our Manor. The second action we are taking is the Ministry is sending a package over later tonight, in case of an attack. The package is going to contain a portkey and I want you to take the portkey if we ever get attacked. It will take you to the village near the Burrow. Five seconds after one of us touches our wand to the portkey will leave. I want you to carry your wand with you everywhere, and I will shrink and lighten your bag, keep it in your pocket at all times. If we have to leave you are going to want to have your stuff with you. If we do get attacked, I want you to leave right away, even if it means without me. I can always apparate to the village, my first concern is you getting out."

I took a deep breath that was a lot to take in. I don't what I was suspecting, but that was definitely not it.

"Do you think that mum is okay?" I asked, I knew it was slightly childish, but she was my mother and I had a right to know.

"No, I don't," he said, giving me a sad look.

That was the good thing about how much my father was at work. He was always honest, he never sugar coated anything, he just told it as it was. No matter how much I didn't want to hear it.

"Do you actually think that they'll attack us?" I asked, in a small voice, slightly worried.

"I don't know Talli," he said, putting his head in his hands, and I noticed just how much my father had aged, "My guess is that they probably will, so be prepared to leave at any second."

I nodded, pondering over what my father said. I could not help but feel nervous, but for some reason I highly doubted that anyone would attack. I mean, it was the holidays…

"Why don't you pack your bag and bring it down, and I'll shrink and lighten it for you…" my father said, and I nodded, silently getting up and walking upstairs.

I packed all of my things back into my bag, hoping that I was doing this for nothing. The more I thought about it, the more it scared me, so I decided that it was not possible, we would be fine. With all of the protective charms that had been placed on house, I highly doubted we would be attacked. I ignored the fact that the other two houses would have been just as protected, and they had been broken into. So I convinced myself that I was simply packing my trunk and bringing it downstairs purely to make my father happy.

So I carried my bag down the stairs and into the living room where my father was sitting in an elegant chair that looked completely out of place in the country, but it was my father's favorite chair, we had one in all of our houses. That was where he always sat.

"Oh, good, bring it over here," he said, looking up from behind the newspaper.

I walked over to him, and sat on the stiff couch next to his chair. He picked up my bag, and with a few waves of his wand it had shrunk, and I was guessing it weighed considerably lighter. After he was done he handed it to me and continued to read the paper while I stuck it into my pocket, and began reading a Quidditch magazine. I didn't really want to be alone after what I just heard, and judging by how much my father's shoulders relaxed, I knew he felt the same.

Twenty minutes later, an Auror showed up and handed my father a package, whispering quietly to him. My father went, and set the package containing the portkey on the dinning room table, and sat back down. I could tell that he was starting to look stressed again, and I couldn't blame him. We were both on edge.

After about an hour, in complete silence, I said goodnight to my father and pecked his cheek before making my way upstairs to go to bed. I changed quickly into my favorite pair of flannel pants (they were red and had snitches on them) a sports bra, and the sweater that Mrs. Weasley had knitted me last year (maroon with a gold T in the middle). Before I went to bed I put the bag on the nightstand so I could grab it in case of an emergency (that wasn't going to happen!) and climbed into my warm sheets. I thought about what my father had said to me earlier (still denying that we would be attacked), and I let a few silent tears fall from my green eyes, knowing deep down my mother would never return. I brought my legs up to my chest, and let out all of my pent up emotions.

By the next night I had myself completely convinced that nothing was going to happen and everything was going to be just fine. I still kept the bag tucked in the pocket of the Gryffindor sweatshirt I was wearing; I believe it was Fred's that I took from over the summer (hey, don't judge, it was really comfy. The perks from when I dated Wood was that I could almost always be seen wearing his sweatshirt, at least when it was cool out. It was terribly hard to give it back to him, so I took Fred's.

I had been zoning out, thinking about nothing in particular when I heard a crash from downstairs. All of a sudden my father's face appeared in the doorway, looking as white as a ghost.

"I left the tea cup (which was the 'portkey') down in the kitchen, no matter what, I want you to get to it, tap it with your wand and leave. With or without me, do you understand?" he asked, I could hear footsteps downstairs, and I nodded, praying I wouldn't have to leave him, "I love you sweetie."

"I love you too Dad," I said, as tears threatened to spill from my eyes.

We quietly made our way out into the hall; gripping our wands so hard our knuckles were white. We crept down the stairs, straining our ears for noise. We couldn't hear anything and my heart swelled with hope, maybe they left and we could both get out safely. I should have known that was too good to be true.

At the bottom of the stairs a curse came flying at me, scraping my leg. I turned around quickly, firing another towards a person who looked like a male, but I couldn't really tell, my dad and I sprinted towards the kitchen. Both of us were sending hexes and jinxes towards them over our shoulders, but we were outnumbered, and both of us took a few minor hits, until we reached the kitchen door. I felt my father's grip on my arm loosened and I quickly turned to see what was wrong, and saw a look of pain on his face.

I turned and sent as many jinxes as I could towards them, but no matter what I did I couldn't help him.

"RUN!" he shouted at me, before another spasm of pain shook him, "I can apparate!"

I nodded, and ran towards the kitchen tapped the tea cup, and run as fast as I could towards my father before the portkey left-hoping I would reach him before it took off. Only when I reached him I found his body still. I screamed as a curse came at me, but before it could hit me I was spinning, and disappearing.

All of a sudden I felt cold, and wet. Everything was a black, and I knew I was definitely not at the Burrow. I squinted, trying to figure out where I was, gripping my wand so tight, listening for any signs of an attack.

That was when I realized I was in an alley behind the ice cream parlor that was in the town twenty minutes from the Burrow. It made sense; it would have been unsafe for me to portkey directly to the Burrow. I took off sprinting, tears streaming down my face, freezing in the cold. I could barely breathe, and the world was still spinning, but I kept running. My ears were straining to hear if anyone was following me, but I couldn't hear anything besides my raged breathing and sniffling. I knew I wasn't running in a straight line, but I could barely see and at this point I was just hoping that I would find the Burrow.

I did not know I could run as fast as I did because I got to the Burrow in about seven minutes, but it seemed like much longer to me. I started pounding on the door, tears still streaming down my cheeks. My legs gave way, and I collapsed to the ground. I could barely breath through the panic and the sobbing. Soon lights were randomly turning on and if I had been paying attention I would have heard Mr. Weasley hissing to everyone to back up. What I did hear was his voice from behind the door.

"Who's there?"

"It'-s-s-s T-a-a-l-l-l-l-i," I said, choking.

"Talli?" I heard him ask in shock, "Kids, go back to bed…"

"But…"I heard George protest.

"NOW!" I heard Mrs. Weasley say sharply, knowing that something was definitely wrong.

I was thankful; I didn't want anyone to see me like this. And soon enough the door was opening and Mrs. Weasley's arms were around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. That's when I completely lost it. My entire body shook with sobs, and she just let me cry, while Mr. Weasley went and made me hot chocolate. I made my way to the well-used couch, tears still streaming down my face like a waterfall.

I sat and silently drank my hot chocolate; they didn't ask any questions, which was good, because I really didn't feel like answering any questions right now. But of course, luck was not on my side tonight, because all of a sudden there was another knock on the door and Mr. Weasley walked over to the door, holding his wand.

"Auror Department, open up!" a strict voice came from behind the door.

Mr. Weasley opened the door and a blonde witch stood outside the door, holding up a badge.

"I'm here to talk to Miss Tallison Prince; it is to the Ministry's knowledge that she is here."

"She's in the living room," Mr. Weasley said, giving me a sympathetic look.

"Very well, if you and your wife would be kind enough to leave us alone, I would like to talk to you when I am done interrogating Miss Prince."

Mrs. Weasley looked simply outraged, and looked like she was going to say something, but Mr. Weasley quickly grabbed her arm and they walked upstairs.

"Hello Miss Prince, I'm Ms. Fallow, I'm here to discuss the events that happened earlier this evening. I'm with the Auror Department (with that she showed me her badge). Now, would you please tell me what happened?"

I really did not like this woman, but I answered her question anyways, the tears falling even harder as I relived the events from earlier. She didn't offer any sympathy, just took notes on her parchment.

"Do you have any idea who the attackers were?"

"No idea," I said, one would think that if I did I would have told her, "I just assumed they were people who were with Sirius Black, trying to get back at my family for not getting involved with You-Know-Who."

"Are you sure that is all that happened?" she asked, her voice harsh.

I glared at her; I really did not like her, my eyes were sore, puffy and red. They had been all cried out. I could

"Yes," I said, my voice cracking from all of the crying.

She nodded, "You may go, please send Mr. and Mrs. Weasley down."

I just got up and headed towards the stairs, up to their door and knocked. Mrs. Weasley quickly opened the door, looking worried.

"She wants to talk to you two," I said, my throat dry.

She nodded, "You can take Charlie's room for now, he won't be home from Romania until tomorrow, and when he comes home he and Bill can share."

I nodded, and she added, "Why don't you go and take a bath, then go to bed, do you need anything?"

"No, I have my bag…" I said, she looked slightly confused but she didn't ask any questions, her and Mr. Weasley just made their way down the stairs.

I made my way towards the bathroom, ready to take a bubble bath. It was very relaxing, but I knew that if I had any tears left they would have been streaming down my face still. I was alone. And orphan. I had no family. Over the summer and Easter when everyone got to go home, I would have nowhere to go, I suppose over Easter I could stay at school and over the summer I could stay at the Leaky Cauldron. It wouldn't be the same though. I knew that I was being slightly melodramatic, but at that point I didn't care, and can you blame me?

I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke the next day, wrapped up in blankets. There was a plate of food by my bedside, and I ate it quickly, not realizing how hungry I had been. That is when the events of yesterday came flooding back to me, and I felt my eyes fill up with tears as they silently flooded down my cheeks hitting Charlie's red comforter. I instantly wiped my eyes, and I tried to calm myself down. I knew that I would have to go downstairs sooner or later, and as much as I would rather it be later, it was Christmas Eve, and I didn't want to deal with the pity on Christmas, so I figured I might as well get it over with.

Before I walked downstairs I pulled my blonde hair back into a high ponytail, and I grabbed the tray before making my way down the stairs. The second I got downstairs Fred and George had attacked me with a hug, holding me tight. It was a struggle not to burst into a fresh wave right then and there. Soon enough I was getting hugged by all of the Weasleys, and I lost it, the tears streaming down my face. I quickly wiped them away. I hated crying in front of people.

For the rest of the day the twins tried to cheer me up, occasionally getting a weak, forced smile. And the dinner that night was the best meal I have ever eaten. Mrs. Weasley looked happy to see me eating. After dinner they announced that I was staying here for the rest of the break, and that I did not need to worry about the funeral or anything because they were taking care of it. I just nodded, thankful for all that they were doing for me.

After that I said goodnight to everyone and went up to sleep, wishing all of the pain would go away. Every time I closed my eyes I would see my father's lifeless body on the ground. After about midnight Mrs. Weasley came in and asked if I wanted a dreamless sleep potion. I just nodded. I couldn't stand the night meres. I wanted to be well rest for tomorrow though, I knew Fred and George would not let me sulk and I knew that I would need all of the energy I could get.

All of a sudden I felt people jumping around like little children on my bed.

"TALLI WAKE UP!" Fred said, excitedly, I swear one would have thought he was five.

"IT'S CHRISTMAS!" George said, just as excited as his twin.

I let out a small laugh, and promised myself that today I would allow myself to be happy, and then I could go back to being sulky. When the twins heard my laugh huge grins spread across their faces.

"Well don't just lay there!" George said.

"Get up! Let's go open presents!" Fred said before they took off.

I followed closely behind them, and everyone was slowly making their way towards the tree, excited to open presents. And I spent the day laughing and trying to have fun. Granted it was nowhere near what my crazy hyper self, but still better. I didn't want to be a downer on Christmas; I wouldn't ruin it for the Weasleys. Not after everything that they have done for me. The girls and Lee had owled their presents, and after we were done opening all of them we at brunch.

I swear when I was done with it I couldn't move, so when everyone got up to play chess Fred and I stayed seated and George was on the ground about half way between the living room and the kitchen unable to make it any farther. It was quite funny really.

"If only Katie could see you now!" I giggled, yes actually giggled; it must have been the holiday spirit rubbing off on me.

"She would still find me just as sexy!" he laughed, and Fred and I chuckled with him, rolling our eyes.

That was how the entire day went, singing Christmas carols, making fun of each other, playing chess. To an outsider they would have never guessed that I had just lost both of my parents in the course of two weeks. And as quickly as my mind dwelled on that fact, I quickly took it off. If I didn't think about it, it was all right. I could pretend that none of it happened, and in the morning I would be going home and spending time with my parents, that was the thought that kept me going through the day. I knew that some days would be better than others, and eventually I would only have the occasional bad day, but right now I just wanted to take it one day at a time.

I knew that if I had been anywhere else I would not have had a good Christmas; it would have just been another day of sulking and crying, trying to pick up the shattered pieces of my life. Instead I had started to piece myself back together.

That night I fell asleep easily, but the dreams still plagued my sleep. When I woke up at some obscene hour in the morning I knew it would not be a good day. And then I remembered that it was the day of the funeral.

The Ministry car came and picked us up at seven as we prepared for the three-hour car ride to the church that the funeral would be hosted at. I stared out the window watching all of the trees go by as green blurs. My mind completely blank. I was told that the Minister of Magic was giving the eulogy, and that no one else was going to be allowed to talk. He was no doubt going to use this time to advertise for how Sirius Black needed to be found, and I hated him for it.

Once we arrived at the church I made my way with the Weasleys to the front pew, and sat down, glaring at the Minster from across the aisle. He pointedly ignored my glares, talking to the toad like woman, the only one who was not wearing black, Delores Umbridge. When Amelia Bones entered she came right over to me and gave me a huge hug.

"I am so sorry for everything that you are going through Talli!" she said, and I gave her a weak smile, I actually liked her, she was the first person from the Ministry to come over and talk to me.

"Thank you Amelia."

She nodded and walked away. A few more people came over and talked to me before the Minister and started his speech.

"I lost a very good friend. I always considered Orin to be one of my closest friends. His death has affected me greatly. I can't even imagine what his daughter Trinity (WAIT WHAT THE FUCK? TRINITY? MY NAME IS NOT TRINITY! HOW FUCKING DARE HE! I tightened my fists and Bill who was sitting next to me grabbed my hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze) is feeling right now. Sirius Black is behind this, and I will not let his death go unpunished. I ask you to fight back with me. To avenge Orin's death, and all of the other countless innocent lives that have been taken because they feel like they are better than us. We need to work together to find Sirius Black and any of his accomplices or else I free he will become the next You-Know-Who. We must avenge Vivien and Orin. The only way we will do this is through finding this madman and I will make sure that I do everything in my power to find him."

At that he walked back down, and they took the casket out. Everyone cheered for his speech. Most people didn't even notice his error in my name. Shortly after his speech he came over to me. Shaking my hand while the photographers snapped pictures. Once they walked away he turned to me with a sad smile.

"I'm sorry for your loss Trinity."

"My name isn't Trinity," I practically growled, taking my hand out of his grasp, I walked to the cemetery to say one last goodbye before he was put in the ground.

Once I reached the area where the casket was, tears were streaming down my cheeks.

"Goodbye Daddy, I love you," I said, my body shaking with sobs.

Soon my friends joined me outside, all hugging me. The girls came first and held me tightly for a long time, followed by the boys. I was extremely surprised when I felt muscled arms wrap around me. I could instantly feel warmth flood through me and I tried not to cry even harder, but that completely failed.

"It will get better, I promise," Oliver whispered in my ear, and I nodded, not really believing him.

We pulled apart and he gave me a sad grin. About an hour later the Weasleys and I were on our way back towards the Burrow. Oliver and Lee joining us. Once we got back to the Burrow, we exited the car and just as we were almost inside Fred chucked a snowball at George's head, starting a ginormous snowball fight.

We all full out attacked each other, laughing. All of a sudden I felt snow fall down the back of my shirt (I had changed for the ride home into a white tee shirt, my black Hogwarts sweatshirt and grey sweats) and I screeched.

"OLIVER WOOD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"I screamed as I chased him around the Burrow until he ran into the safety of the house.

I glared at him as I entered, but smirked as I dove and stole the brownie that he had been eating. I childishly stuck my tongue out at him, and he grinned. I missed being able to joke around with him like that. Shortly later we sat in the living room, playing exploding snap and I went to take off my sweatshirt, completely forgetting that I had a white shirt on, with a black bra (I really hadn't cared, I didn't feel like changing into a different one). I didn't notice until Fred wolf whistled at me. I smacked the back of his head, breaking his concentration, causing the cards to explode and burn off his eyebrows. I chuckled, before heading up to bed for the night. I was asleep instantly, completely emotionally drained from the day.

* * *

**So, this chapter is just a little depressing...but hopefully you enjoyed it...please continue to comment and give it kudos! You are all wonderful!**


	10. Of the New Year Bash

I sat on the end of Alicia's bed, zoning out and staring into the mirror. My reflection over the past week had changed drastically. I had bags under my eyes from not sleeping, and my green eyes looked lifeless. The other girls were talking about what colors they wanted to paint their nails for the party that was happening later that evening. I really couldn't bring myself to care.

"Here Talli! Paint your nails this color!" Alicia said, passing me a turquoise color, trying to include me.

"Thanks…" I said, absentmindedly starting to paint my nails, tuning out their conversation.

"TALLI!" Ang practically yelled at me a few minutes later, and I jumped in surprise.

"What?" I asked, glaring at her.

"Are you excited to see Allan?" she asked.

"You had to yell to ask me that?" I asked, annoyed with my friend.

"You were completely zoned out!" she defended herself, "And don't think you can change the subject, you didn't answer my question!"

"Of course I'm excited to see him!" I lied, I mean, I was about as excited as I got these days.

Truth was, I wasn't really feeling excited about anything anymore. I felt completely numb. After the funeral I spent most of my time in the room that I shared with Ginny, always pretending to be asleep when someone entered the room. People would try and talk to me, but after ignoring they people normally got the hint and left. They only people who could sometimes make me smile were Fred, George, Lee and Wood. But the smile would vanish just as quickly as it appeared. I knew that they were up to something when they entered the room yesterday. The four of them had been wearing identical smirks as they forced me to go to Alicia's party.

After everyone was satisfied with their nails (Alicia's a bright yellow, Katie's a bright blue, and Angelina's silver) we started working on our hair. I pulled my hair into a half ponytail and put my light blonde hair into loose curls that fell a little above midway on my back, leaving my side bangs down straight. Alicia scrunched her hair, which was currently dyed back to her naturally blonde color. And it fell just under her shoulders, and she pulled her bangs into a poof. Katie straightened her chocolate hair, and pulled it into a teased ponytail (Alicia's idea). Ang pulled her hair back and into a side bun, and she left a few strands down, and curled. She left her bangs untouched, as they were already straight.

"Would it kill you to leave your hair down Ang?" Alicia asked, chuckling, while Angelina, being the mature person she was, stuck her tongue out at Alicia.

"Yes, I think that it would!" She replied, and we all laughed, even I chuckled a little.

Soon we were putting the finishing touches on our makeup. Katie, Ang, and I all did something simple, the basic eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara and cover up, but Alicia went all out. I probably couldn't tell you how many layers and colors of eye shadow she had on, but it worked. Somehow.

After that we went and put our dresses on. My dress was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. The bust had beads and sequins on it in red and blue, along with big red gems. The skirt had pink mesh fabric and some purple mesh fabric. It fell just above my knees.

Alicia looked stunning in her colorful strapless dress. It had a sweetheart neckline, but it plunged into a band of gems right under the bust. Her dress didn't really have a pattern, it was just a bunch of random colors, but it looked good. The skirt was pleated, and went to just above the knee.

Angelina's dress was a deep pink, and it had big gems all over the dress. There was a strip of fabric right under her bust, and the dress only had one shoulder strap, and went a few inches above the knee. It looked amazing on her.

Katie's dress was a bright blue spaghetti strap, with a sweetheart neckline. The bust was full of sequins and a strap just below the bust cut them off. The skirt flowed simply down to right above her knee. Katie looked lovely.

"Are you guys ready for this?" Alicia asked, laughing, and we all shook our heads, knowing this was going to be a long night.

I shuddered as I remembered what happened last year…

_I was sitting out on the balcony, alone. Alicia was making out with some random guy; Oliver (I know, it's still bizarre that we are friends) was doing the same. They were having some stupid competition to see who could make out with the most people. They were trying to settle an argument; one that would never truly be settled._

_Anyway, Katie was with her boyfriend Mark, they had only been dating a month, and I personally did not think it would last. No matter how much they denied her and George had complete crushes on each other. Katie was only fooling herself (and I guess Mark…) by dating him. And Angelina was off dancing with Cedric, since Hannah wasn't there (I mean he clearly was practically in love with her, but Hannah was completely oblivious)._

_Fred and George were off flirting with every girl in sight, it was actually quite funny. Fred has gotten slapped twice. I think that they were trying to see who could get the most owls over the next few days from girls. My money was on George, he had yet to get slapped, and he was generally a lot sweeter than Fred._

_Chuckling at my friends, I looked up at the clear sky. It was clear, so you could see the stars perfectly in the navy sky. It made me feel so small and useless, as cliché as it sounds. I could hear someone coming out and standing beside me._

_"The countdown is about to start," Oliver said, putting his arm around me and leading me inside._

_I felt oddly happy that he had his arm around me, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. There was NO WAY I was going to develop feelings other than friendship towards him. I mean he is Oliver bloody Wood. It was enough of an effort not to hate him._

_But I could hear Alicia's voice in the back of my head, "You two would be perfect for each other!"_

_Both Oliver and I just laughed it off whenever she said it, or when we had hated each other we just glared. But now I could see why I would like him, and what all of the other girls saw in him. He was hansom, charming, an- TALLI NO! Bad Talli. Oh I am going insane, I am talking to myself like a dog, and I am developing feelings for Oliver. Wait, NO I AM NOT!_

_Okay Talli, deep breathes._

_"Are you alright?" Oliver asked, (SHIT DID I SAY THAT OUT LOUD?) "You are being oddly quiet."_

_Oh, thank God, "No, I'm just thinking," I replied, giving him a small smile._

_"I told you that was a bad idea," He said, shaking his head at me, giving me a heartwarming smile._

_Not a smirk, a smile! Talli! Snap out of it! I scolded myself, yet again. I really was doing this way too often tonight. It could not be healthy. As I snapped myself out of it, I 'glared' at him, and shoved him lightly. We stopped at the edge of the crowd, all preparing to count down._

_"TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!" Everyone shouted, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"_

_And everyone turned to kiss the person next to them. Shit. I hadn't thought about that. Oliver's lips soon found mine, and I could have sworn I saw fireworks. Damn, that sounds really cliché, I need to stop that. I really do. I didn't want it to stop, and clearly he agreed because he pulled me closer and I snaked my arms around his neck, tugging gently on his hair, causing him to moan. Grinning I slipped my tongue into his mouth, and we both moaned at the contact. All of a sudden, I felt myself being pulled away from him, and I heard a slap. I looked at Oliver and saw that he had a red handprint on his cheek, and a very angry girl standing in between us._

_"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" she asked me, and I was very thankful that most people were drunk, and completely ignored us._

_I just gave her a blank look._

_Oliver winked at me, then turned to this very angry and upset bimbo and said, "Darling, what's wrong?"_

" _YOU WERE MAKING OUT WITH TH-H-I-I-S-S W-H-H-H-HORE!" she said, tears streaming down her face._

_Oliver gave me an apologetic look and worked on calming her down, and I took this moment to walk away. Part of me pissed at her for breaking up my make out session, part of me happy she did, and part of was laughing that Oliver had to deal with her._

_Later that evening (okay, early morning) Oliver found me again, and apologized. And we hung out for the rest of the night._

" _We should keep our kiss a secret…" Oliver said, cautiously._

" _Yeah," I said, nodding my head in agreement, pretending (to myself and him) that I was not hurt by that, "Alicia would have a field day if she found out."_

_Oliver chuckled at that, and I could help but join in. When I was tired he walked me up to the room I was staying in, and gave me a quick kiss goodnight before walking away. I smiled, and went to bed happy._

_When I woke up the next morning I subconsciously started smiling again, and when the memories of last night came back to me my first thought was: Well, shit. I have a thing for Oliver Wood._

_I knew I was in trouble._

I have no idea what was going through my mind that night, or the rest of the school year, but thankfully at the end of the year I was able to snap out of it. And I was right about Mark; I think he lasted another month. He turned out to be a complete arse whole.

_I was sitting on my bed in the dorm reading a book, and Angelina and Alicia were in the bathroom arguing over how Angelina never wore her hair down. Again. This argument happens more times than it should, it's pathetic really. Katie had gone off to see her boyfriend, Mark. I really didn't like the guy, he seemed kind of shady to me, but Katie was happy, and I trust her judgment in guys. It's Alicia you need to watch out for._

_I was trying not to think about Oliver. Our relationship had turned very flirty over the last couple of weeks. Not that I minded of course, but it was still different. I found myself thinking about him more often than not, and I could no longer deny that I had feelings for him, as much as I tried to ignore them._

_But I was drawn out of my thoughts when the door flung open and Katie jumped onto her bed, sobbing. Angelina and Alicia stopped arguing and we all rushed towards her bed._

" _What happened dear?" asked Angelina._

" _The bastard cheated on me! With Helen Yerks no less!" she sobbed, and all of us cringed._

_Helen Yerks was a Katie wannabe. If Katie got something, Helen Yerks wanted it. Clearly Mark was no different. She was a fifth year Slytherin (shocker right?) and she was the perfect example of the Slytherin stereotype. A complete and utter cold hearted bitch._

" _We'll get them back. I promise," I said, already thinking of ways that we could get them back._

_Growing up with Fred and George did have its perks. And I had a plan already formulating in my brain._

" _Talli…" Katie said, "You know you don't have too.."_

" _Yes we do Kate," Alicia said, "No one messes with our girl!"_

_She smiled, "Nothing too violent you guys…"_

_We nodded, knowing how much she hated causing people pain._

" _I was thinking we send them both some Weasley Wizard Wheezes…" I said._

" _I'm thinking puking pastilles for her, and tongue-tie toffee for him," Angelina said, "Because looking at her makes me sick and if he's going to be an arse and use his tongue on people who aren't his girlfriend, then he shouldn't be allowed to use it at all!"_

Needless to say they spent some time in the Hospital Wing and it took Madame Pomfrey a week to heal them both. Fred and George were really quite proud of their creations.

"Talli?" Katie said, waving her hand in my face, "Where did you go? Tell me it was at least somewhere warm!"

"Sorry…" I said, "Ummm, yeah it was warm."

"Alright, you guys go down. I'll meet you down there, you know 'we must make an entrance' as my mother always says," Alicia said, and we nodded and made our way into the decorated ballroom.

The room was stunning. There were icicles hanging on the ceiling and down the stairs, there was fake snow falling from the ceiling, along with tinsel all over. There were trees all over the room, and it looked like it was out of a fairy tale. Even I cracked a smile at the sight.

There were already people lingering around and talking, a select few were already dancing. The Weasley twins, Lee and Wood were not there yet, but I knew that they would be arriving soon. Angelina made her way towards the drinks, and I was going to follow her when Katie grabbed my arm and gave a desperate look.

"Please try and enjoy yourself Talli. I hate seeing you like this," Katie said, sadly, "Your parents wouldn't want you to close yourself off…"

I felt a wave of sadness hit me, but I knew that she was right, so I nodded, and she gave me a soft smile and hug before we followed Ang towards the drinks. We all grabbed a butterbeer, and all of a sudden Katie spit out the butterbeer that she had in her mouth and practically collapsed onto the floor in laughter, Angelina soon followed suite. I looked around to see what they were laughing at and I wasn't disappointed. Fred, George, Lee and Wood all walked in wearing neon colored suits. Fred was in neon orange (trust me, it clashed as terribly with his hair as you would think), George was in an electric green, Lee in a bright blue, and last, Wood in an obnoxious hot pink.

I dissolved into a fit of laughter, unable to hold it in. And when I say laugh, I mean I  _really_ laughed for the first time in a week. That would explain why they had been wearing the identical smirks before I left.

"It's great to see you laugh again, Talli," Fred said grinning, "I knew that this would work."

"It was my idea though," said George.

"No, it was my idea."

"No, it was m-"

"Guys!" I said, rolling my eyes at the twins' antics, "I don't care whose idea it was! Thank you for enduring public ridicule to make me laugh."

They smiled, and George walked over and kissed his still giggling girlfriend.

"Hey," he said, smiling.

"Hello!" she said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Let's go dance!" he said, dragging Katie off without giving her a chance to say no (not that she would, of course).

"Have you two seen Terri?" Fred asked, hopefully, looking around the room for his shy, red headed girlfriend, thus, completely missing Angelina's glare.

"No, I haven't sorry," I said, probably a little sharper than I should have.

Fred shrugged and grabbed a drink. And once he grabbed his drink the Spinnets made their way down their elegant grand staircase. Alicia was in the middle, in her brightly colored dress, on the right was her father in his white suit and salt and pepper hair, a huge smile on his face, and on her left was her mother in a deep purple floor length gown, her slightly greying blonde hair pulled into an elegant bun, and a soft smile was on her lips. The great thing about the Spinnets was that they were completely happy. The smiles that they were wearing were not fake, like some families were when they make an entrance. They loved each other, and wanted everyone at the party to enjoy themselves. They were probably one of the nicest wizarding families I have ever met.

Alicia happily made her way over to us, and once she saw the suits the boys were wearing she burst out laughing.

"You guys need to wear neon suits every year now," she informed them, and they just chuckled.

All of a sudden a pair of hands covered Fred's eyes, "Guess who?"

"Terri!" he said, laughing, and turned around to give his girlfriend a kiss.

"Hey darling," she said, smiling at him, it took her a second to notice his attire, and her eyes widened as she did, "What the hell are you wearing?" she hissed.

"A neon suit?" he said winking at her, she just rolled her eyes, but I knew that he was going to get a mouthful later.

I looked at him and mouthed 'sorry' and he just shook his head, and rolled his eyes. I took this time to look at Terri, her red hair was down and curly, and her hazel eyes were flashing in anger (she was clearly overreacting, it was funny! Everyone else clearly thought so! Everyone in this room knew Fred and knew that this was something that was very in character for him), and her dress was strapless and purple. It was a sweetheart neckline, and under the bust were gems and beads, and then a layered skirt that went a few inches above the knee.

I personally thought the dress looked terrible on her, but that was probably because I didn't like her. She was dating the guy that one of my best friends liked, and that guy happened to be my best friend. Besides, I am very picky about whom the twins date, and she clearly does not get their sense of humor; and we all know Fred, his entire personality is made up of his humor and making people laugh.

Joy joined us shortly in a strapless dress and sweetheart neckline, the bust part of the dress was green with blue sequins, and they made a cute swirly pattern, then under the bust was a big black bow, and a straight black skirt landing a few inches above the knee.

She looked at Lee's suit and just rolled her eyes, completely used to it to the point that it didn't surprise her, but she clearly did not see the humor in it as the rest of us (minus Terri) saw. She just didn't even bother asking anymore.

I could see Tiffany making her way towards us, and I snorted, I really tried to hold it in, but I couldn't. Her dress looked like a slutty tutu. That was the easiest way to describe it. It was strapless (and clearly was too small for her breasts, which she made bigger with magic, because she was practically falling out the dress, and I really didn't want to see that). The bodice of the dress was full of clear colored gems. While the skirt was a light blue and in multiple layers, barely covering her arse. And on top of that she was wearing silver hooker heels. I must say, I was slightly (ONLY SLIGHTLY) jealous of how long her legs looked, and then I realized it was because she was showing most of them.

I then realized why Wood kept her around. She looked like such a slut, all the time, she was sure to be super easy to fuck (as she has even proclaimed herself-she was quite proud of all the sex she was getting-and I must say, at times I was a little jealous), and most guys would be jealous because she was pretty. I just rolled my eyes and Wood winked at me, and made his way towards his 'girlfriend'.

"I thought that you had to wear clothes to this party…" Angelina said, joking around and sounding disappointed.

"Oh I didn't tell you, clothing optional, and she clearly chose optional," Alicia said and we all laughed, while she glared.

Oops, I think she heard us. But when she reattached her lips to Wood's I decided she just hated us, and was glaring at us just because. All of a sudden I felt someone's arms wrap around me.

"Hey baby," I heard Allan say, and I was slightly surprised, that was very bold of him.

"Hey," I said, turning around to give him a peck on the lips.

"How are you doing?" he asked, looking concerned.

"I'm alright," I said, "how's your break been?"

"It's been good, I did a lot of reading," he said laughing.

"Of course you did," I teased.

Tiffany and Wood came and joined us, finally done sucking face.

"So why the hell are you wearing that hideous suit?" she asked, acting like the bitch that she is.

"Because I can," Wood said, but he winked at me (indicating that he was in fact wearing it to get a laugh out of me), and I playfully rolled my eyes.

Tiffany did not miss the exchange and glared at me, "Why the fuck are you winking at that slut? Is she the reason that you wore that suit? I am your GIRLFRIEND that bitch is not so why couldn't you have worn a black suite like I told you too! You are treating her special just because her dad died! You HATE her remember?"

I wanted to slap the bitch so hard, but Katie beat me too it. KATIE. Miss-I-Wouldn't-Hurt-A-Fly. We all stared at her in shock, and Tiffany ran off towards the bathroom. Oliver shot me an apologetic look and went after his girlfriend (though, judging by the look on his face I wasn't sure how much longer she would be his girlfriend) and I gave Katie a hug.

"Thanks darling," I whispered in her ear, pecking her on the cheek and blinking back the tears.

"Anytime," she replied.

"Wow, Katie, I didn't know you had that in you!" Fred laughed, desperately trying to lighten the mood, sensing my distress.

"She was being a complete and utter bitch. She deserved it," Katie said shrugging, "She has been annoying me forever, I guess I just snapped."

"I'll drink to that!" Lee said, and we all laughed and took sips of our drinks.

"Want to dance?" Allan asked, and I nodded, being whisked away onto the dance floor.

We were dancing for about a half an hour before I was attacked in a group hug. I looked up laughing as I saw Hannah and Rae, with Cedric following behind, shaking his head.

"Hey sweetie," Hannah said, "How are you?"

"I'm doing alright," I said, "How was your break?"

"Amazing!" she said, with a huge grin on her face.

"Cedric finally grew a pair and asked her out," Rae explained, smiling happily.

"REALLY?" I screeched, earning a few strange looks.

"Yes!" Hannah said nodding happily, and Cedric came up and put his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek.

"Took you long enough," I said, winking at him, and he just chuckled.

"Didn't it?" Rae said, "You have no idea how hard it was to convince them that the other person did in fact fancy them back!"

I laughed at Rae and said, "You poor soul!"

"I know! I deserve an award!"

We all laughed at this. Then Cedric led Hannah away to dance, and Rae got her sights on someone and went off to work her magic, leaving me alone. I didn't notice when Allan left, and I felt kind of bad, but I had been waiting over a year for them to get together and he was a big boy, he did know how to handle himself in a room full of people. They were like Katie and George, though admittedly, I was not quite as excited as I was about Katie and George (they would always be my favorite)! I made my way towards the drinks table, past a glaring Tiffany (I swear I thought she was going to kill me!) and grabbed some firewhiskey, needing something stronger than butterbeer.

I made my way onto the balcony, looking for some cool air. This year was so much different than last year. Last year the only thing I had to worry about were my feelings for Wood (that I was focusing on ignoring), and what to do with myself after my break up with Chris, two things that seemed completely insignificant to me now.

Unlike last year the sky was clear and I could see all of the stars, this year the sky was cloudy and there was not a star in sight.

"You really like this place, huh?" I heard a voice next to me (I hadn't even heard anyone come out!), but I could hear the distinct Scottish accent in his voice.

"Yeah…I really do," I replied, not even turning to look at him.

I stared out into the yard watching a couple of kids have a snowball fight in the back yard. Not having a care in the world. I would give anything to be like that, but everyone has to grow up eventually.

"Hey Oliver, can I ask you something?" I asked, there was a question that was bothering me.

"You just did, but I suppose you can ask another one," he said, grinning teasingly at me.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I knew it was a stupid question, but it was slightly unexpected, he was not one to pity others.

I figured he would leave me alone after my father died (only for a little while) because he is not a complete arse and he wouldn't be cruel after I lost somebody important. But I was not expecting him to be nice. I mean the snowball fight? The suit? All those times he came in with the twins and tried to make me laugh?

"I know what it's like to lose someone important to you. You didn't honestly think I would be a complete prick to you, did you?"

"No, of course not. But I just figured you'd ignore me," I answered honestly.

"Nah, losing someone you love is hard. You never forget, and it will always bring a little pain, but over time, you begin to heal. Having people being there for you to cheer you up helps. It eases the pain," he said, "When I was ten I lost my Grandma, she was like a second mother to me. She lived with my family, and when I was nine she started getting really sick and the healers couldn't do anything about it. So, as time went on, she only got worse, and soon, I was hardly allowed to see her. She didn't want my memories of her to be of her dying. And when I was ten, she passed away. It was really hard, but Alicia was there, and helped cheer me up. No matter how much I yelled at her to leave me alone, or how many mean comments I made, she still came, and eventually, I started feeling better. I got used to not having her around, and came to terms with the fact that she wouldn't want me to sit and sulk. My grandmother loved watching me fly and play Quidditch, and I made a promise to myself that I would become a Quidditch player for her. It became my passion, and to be anything else would be letting us both down…"

As he finished I gave him a hug. I don't know why, it just felt right, and clearly he thought so too because he hugged me right back.

"You will become a famous Quidditch player one day Oliver, I know you will," I told him, as we broke away from the hug, and he gave me a big, genuine smile.

"I hope so…"

It was so weird to see him doubt himself like this, and I felt terrible because I didn't know what to say, but even if I did, I wouldn't have had the chance to say it because Tiffany came out.

"Oliver sweetheart, the countdown is about to begin," and after one more smile from Oliver and a glare from Tiffany (seriously, if looks could kill, I would have been dead-thank Merlin she didn't come out a few minutes early and witness our hug, I think she literally would have pushed me off the balcony), they were gone.

Sighing I made my way inside, and looked for Allan. It didn't take me too long to find him. And thankfully, because the countdown started shortly after I found him.

"TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!" Everyone shouted, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

I grinned, and stood on my tip toes to kiss Allan (and in the back of my mind I thought I would much rather be kissing Oliver, but I quickly ignored that thought completely-I think it had to do with how similar the last few minutes had been to last year) soon we pulled back to get air, and went back to the refreshments table, grabbed some firewhiskey and made our way into one of the spare rooms, where our friends were waiting. Generally, this always ended badly. I think one year Fred had to streak across the back yard, and I believe Lee had to pole dance (it really was quite humorous, no matter how fuzzy the memory was) and I'm pretty sure Alicia and Wood had to kiss (which ended in them both gagging and almost vomiting).

"Okay, for those of you who are new, we are going to play Truth or Dare. And if you don't know how to play, figure it out as we go cause I really don't feel like explaining it. The only thing that we do differently is after every turn we take a drink. Got it?" Alicia asked, and we all gathered and sat in a circle, "I'll go first, Talli, truth or dare?"

"Umm…truth," I said, knowing Alicia's dares were the worst.

"Do you have a crush on Ollie?" she asked, passing me a vial of veritaserum, which I took a small sip of.

I rolled my eyes, I should have seen this coming, "While I admit he isn't being a prick, I do NOT fancy 'Ollie'."

"Damn…" I heard her mutter under her breath.

"Oliver, truth or dare?" I asked.

"Dare," he said, and I grinned mischievously.

"Go give Lee a lap dance," I said, winking at him.

Karma is a bitch. He glared at me and rolled his eyes, but got up and did it anyways. Now you may think that was cruel of me, but I had to do it last year. And any other ideas would involve him doing something downstairs, but I knew there were Quidditch scouts down there, and I wasn't bitchy enough to ruin his chances at going pro.

After a lot of laughter he turned to Tiffany, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," she said, giving (well trying to give) him a seductive look, I thought she completely failed.

"I dare you to do seven minutes in heaven with me," he said, and all of us rolled our eyes.

Seven minutes, and lots of cringing, later Tiffany was asking Allan, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," he said, and by the look in her eyes I knew she had something evil in mind (or at least she thought she did).

"I dare you to kiss Angelina!" she said, looking so proud of herself and smirking at me.

I chuckled; did she really think that would piss me off? Talk about a fail. Did I like the idea of my boyfriend kissing my friend? No. But I understood that this was a game and that they did not actually want to kiss each other.

So Allan got up from next to me and walked over to where Ang was and kissed her on the lips briefly before walking over and sitting back down next to me.

"Ummm…Lee, truth or dare?"

"Dare baby!"

"I dare you to go to edge of the roof and take a piss!"

Lee winked, and got up, opened the window and we all ran towards the window to make sure he did. And he did all right. Right as someone was walking out. After he was done he dove back and erased his footprints, and just in time, because they looked up he was already inside, and we were leaving the window. We all burst into fits of laughter and passed the firewhiskey around.

"Terri, truth or dare?"

"Truth…" she said, looking slightly nervous as she took a sip of the veritaserum.

"What's your biggest turn on?"

"Guys who play Quidditch, even though I don't like the sport," she said, blushing.

"Uhhh…Joy, truth or dare?"

"Truth," she said, having been here last year she knew that it was always best to pick truth (I think she had to dance on a table last year…)

"Who was your first crush?" Terri asked, passing her the veritaserum.

"Charlie Frans," she said, blushing, and after passing the firewhiskey around she turned to Katie, "Truth or Dare?"

"What the heck? Dare," she said, clearly the alcohol was starting to take effect, I could feel my brain getting slightly fuzzy.

"Kiss Cedric," she said, and Katie went up and pecked him on the cheek.

"You didn't say where!" she said, giggling, "Alicia, truth or dare?"

"Dare!" She said.

"I dare you to kiss Fred!" she said, and I knew where she was going with this, she clearly wasn't a fan of Terri either.

Alicia nodded, and walked over to Fred, sat on his lap, and full on kissed him. When she pulled back she winked at Fred and Terri looked livid.

"Ang, truth or dare?" she asked, completely ignoring Terri (who was the only angry one, Fred didn't seem to mind nor did Alex, but I have a feeling their relationship is pretty open…)

"Dare."

"I dare you to flash my neighbors!"

So Ang got up, went out onto her room and pulled her strap down, and then the front of her dress, and screamed, "WOOO! I FEEL FREE!"

We all burst into fits of giggles, and she almost fell off the roof she was laughing so hard.

After a few more rounds I think everyone was completely drunk. Terri was in a corner crying, Tiffany was yelling at Wood, who was ignoring her and talking to Alicia who was getting her neck kissed by Alex. Next to Alex George and Katie were making out (he was practically on top of her), and Fred and Lee were running around playing tag, while Joy was complaining about being fat, Ang was ranting to herself and I was currently kissing Allan. And everyone else was smart enough to leave. I think that it is safe to say we were pretty drunk. So why we did what we do next I will never know, but I will forever blame the alcohol.

"Let's go out and play Quidditch!" Oliver's, excitedly, and we all agreed (like I said, God only knows why-it definitely wasn't our smartest idea).

Terri and Tiffany rolled their eyes, and after they realized that we were serious they left, and we made our way outside, grabbing brooms (and between all of Oliver's and Alicia's brooms we had enough for everyone) and we split into teams. Oliver, George, Katie and I against Fred, Ang, Alicia, Lee and Joy.

I was seeker against Joy, Oliver was keeper against Lee, and George and Katie were our chasers against Fred, Alicia and Angelina.

I threw the quaffle up, and the game began. Let's just say it's a miracle nobody ran into a tree. The actual game of Quidditch didn't last very long. Soon we were on the ground in fits of laughter for no apparent reason. Really, I had no idea what was so funny, it just was. I think it was Fred getting hit in the head with the quaffle. Now I think Lee was streaking down the street, and George was getting ready to join him. Alicia was spinning in circles and Angelina was taking off her dress because she was sick of wearing it. 'It was to restricting'. Katie was on the ground making snow angles and Fred and I were making a snowman named Bob, while Oliver was throwing snowballs after Lee, swearing that the next one would hit him.

Eventually we made our way back inside and collapsed in the truth or dare room (after we cleaned up of course) and we all passed out.

When I woke up the next morning I could hardly move. My head was ponding and it was way too bright.

"Ugh…" I groaned.

I could hear everyone else in the room groaning.

"Someone better have that fucking potion!"

"I got it!" Fred groaned as he passed around a glass full of the potion, and everything started to clear the memories started coming back, and we all burst into laughter.

Hardly believing that we attempted to play Quidditch last night.

"I think that this was the best party we've had," Alicia said, giggling.

And we all nodded. And for the first time in a while, I felt happy. I just hoped that the feeling would last.


	11. Of Talks and Healing

I spent the rest of break sulking, much to everyone's disappointment. I think that everyone was hoping that my mood would be permanently lifted after New Years, but that definitely was not the case. Soon enough though, we were on the Hogwarts Express halfway across the beautiful fields of Scotland, and halfway to arriving at school. I was sitting staring at my book, occasionally flipping the page so that it seemed like I was actually reading. Wood was discuss Quidditch tactics, Alicia was reading a Quidditch magazine, Angelina was reading some trendy magazine, Lee was off with Joy, and Fred and George were making faces at Wood. Normally during this time I would make snarky comments towards Wood, but I wasn't in the mood, and I hadn't forgotten what he (and Fred and George) had tried to cheer me up.

I felt guilty about having fun that night. My father had just died, and my mother was just as good as. I knew they would not want me to sulk, but I couldn't help it. I had lost them both in such a short amount of time. How was I supposed to react?

The glass door to our compartment opened, and Allan walked in, grinning at me.

"Hey love," he said, coming and putting his arm around me.

"Hey," I said, leaning into him.

He glanced quickly out of the compartment, before giving me a kiss on the lips, "How was the rest of your break?"

"Eh," I said, not really in the talking mood.

"Just eh?" he said, giving me a smile, "Come on, it has to have been more interesting than eh."

He laughed at his own joke slightly, and Katie gave him a weird look, and I just gave him a blank look. I mean really, my father just died, and my mom went missing, how do you think the rest of my break was? I was about to say something but Angelina beat me to it.

"Her father just died (cue a cautious glances my way), how do you think the rest of her break was?" Angelina asked, giving him a look that clearly said 'do you really have that little tact?'.

He just shrugged and started talking about what he did over break. I felt bad, but I tuned him out, not really in the mood to listen to him ramble. It didn't help that I was a little peeved he hadn't apologized for being insensitive (which I was blaming on the fact that I was incredibly moody).

If I had looked up I would have seen Alicia and Angelina exchange an eye roll, and Katie looking at him like he was an idiot. But I didn't look up and I missed the entire exchange, and if Allan noticed he completely ignored it.

The compartment door opened slightly and a girl with plain brown hair stood in the doorway. I think her name was Gina, but I wasn't positive. She was in Ravenclaw, I could tell by her outfit.

"Hey Allan, can I talk to you?" she said, looking right at my boyfriend, ignoring everyone else in the compartment.

"Sure," he said, getting up without a second thought, nor a goodbye (which did not help to improve my already angry mood).

"That was weird," Alicia said, stating the obvious.

"Ummm why?" asked Fred, clueless, "They're friends, I see them together all the time."

"They're friends?" Angelina said, looking slightly surprised, "I would have thought they hated one another."

"They dated for like two years, but they just recently ended a few months ago. No one knows why, but I didn't think that they had stayed friends; they were always glaring at each other. Judging by that exchange I wouldn't be surprised if they're still fucking," Tiffany said, and I rolled my eyes.

I really doubted he was cheating on me; he was too nice of a guy. My friends did not look as convinced, but for once in their lives they kept their mouths shut.

Soon after that we were back at Hogwarts, and walking into the Great Hall for the feast. Allan had not joined us again on the train, but that didn't really bother me, I wasn't in the mood to talk. I tried ignoring all of the sympathetic looks I was getting from people, and all of the whispers too.

"I heard she watched her father die!"

"I heard he took a curse for her!"

"I heard she bailed on him, and ran!"

"I heard-"

The group of fourth years promptly shut their mouths thanks to the glares my friends were shooting them. I shot them a grateful look as the whispers stopped, or at least they whispered quietly so that I could not hear them.

"I would like to welcome all of you back from break and I hope that all of your breaks were full of jolly and cheer," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes twinkling, "Now, eat up!"

I would always respect the man, even in dark times; he still managed to look on the bright side of things. I would give just about anything to see the bright side of my situation. Soon, all of my friends were piling food onto their plates, it was almost disgusting. I reached for the mashed potatoes and gravy, and started nibbling on my food.

"You really need to eat more than that Talli," Angelina said, giving me a meaningful look.

I knew she was right, but I really had no appetite.

"Just eat, I don't care if you feel like eating it, just do it," Alicia said.

I sighed, and piled some steak onto my plate, and some salad, and continued to eat. When desert came I took some chocolate ice cream.

When we got back to the room I went upstairs and collapsed onto the bed in my red pants that had little broomsticks on them, and my harpies t-shirt, waited for sleep to come, and the nightmares to start.

I woke up early the next morning, like usual, the nightmares preventing me from slipping back into sleep. I groaned, not wanting to get up, my bed was warm and comfortable, but Alicia's snores were dreadfully loud, and I knew that if I stayed in here much longer I would be forced to think as my mind would wander to unpleasant places. So I grudgingly got out of bed, and contemplated what to do. Finally I decided that I would run, I changed into a pair of black basketball shorts, a hot pink sports bra, and a blue tank top, before making my way towards the seventh floor, towards where I knew the Room of Requirement was. I walked past the cold stonewall three times, thinking  _I need someplace to run_  and sure enough when the door opened I found what looked like a muggle track.

I grinned a little and started running, focusing my entire mind on running as hard as I could around the track. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. One after the other. Enjoying the bliss of not thinking, and tuning out the entire world. It was just me and the track, nothing else. But after an hour I had to leave, and shower for class. So I made my way back towards the common room, getting some weird looks from the younger students.

I entered the sixth year dormitory and found Katie and Alicia up and moving, getting ready to shower, and Angelina groaning on her bed about not wanting to move. I grabbed my uniform and my towel and made my way into the bathroom to take a nice cold shower.

After the four of us were ready we made our way down to the Great Hall and sat down by the boys.

"Moring!" Fred said, grinning like a mad man.

Angelina rolled her eyes and asked, "How can you be a morning person?" as she took the seat next to him.

Katie walked over to the other side and sat next to her boyfriend, placing a kiss on his cheek. Alicia walked over and sat in between Lee and Wood, while I went and sat on Fred's other side. I grabbed a piece of toast and put some nutella on it, before eating it, dreading going to Potions with Snape and Nott. I really was not in the mood, but sadly I had no choice.

"Ready to go to hell?" Alicia asked, as we all got up and made our way towards the dungeons.

"Not even close to ready," Katie said, and we all nodded in unison.

We walked into the Potions room and took our seats, waiting for Snape to strut into the room like he normally did. Sure enough, as the bell rang he came walking into the classroom, pretending like he was the coolest thing on the entire planet. He really did need to shrink his ego.

He instantly launched into what potion we were going to make today, not even making eye contact with me. I don't know what I expected, maybe a slightly sympathetic look, I mean my father was his cousin. But of course it didn't happen. So instead I had to deal with Nott's smirking look, one that I knew meant absolutely no good. He normally had that look on his face before he tried to knock me off of my broom.

I just tried to ignore it, and got up to get our materials to make the potion, because heaven forbid he got up and got the ingredients. When I came back he was smirking a little more, but I think he looked slightly pained, probably from trying to think.

"So Prince, I heard that your father died this past break," he started, and I could tell that I visibly tensed, but I didn't respond.

I just kept cutting up the ingredients and glaring at the book. I would have thought that it was going to burst into flames. He seemed slightly disappointed when I didn't respond to his comment.

"Stir the cauldron counter clockwise for five minutes," I told him, knowing full well that it needed to be stirred clockwise, but I also knew that he would do the exact opposite of what I told him, "It'll blow up if you don't stir it right."

I added the last bit thanking Merlin that he was dumber than a pile of bricks because I couldn't act on a good day, flying a broom I could do, acting or singing definitely not. I could not imagine how unconvincing that sounded on a shitty day. Apparently good enough for him though because he started stirring clockwise; I almost smirked in victory.

"Didn't your mother run out and leave you and your father to fend on your own?" he asked, looking so proud of himself.

I glared and tried to resist the urge to smack him. I focused on furiously chopping up the ingredients, and adding them into the potion (honestly, I don't know why he was angering the person holding the sharp object). I thankful that I was good at brewing potions, because I knew that if I wasn't the potion would have long since exploded.

As Snape walked around the classroom, grading everyone's potions Nott tried to make more remarks about my family. I completely tuned him out; I had gotten good at that over the years. When Snape got to our table he looked at our potion, wrote something down and continued on walking. I took that as a good sign.

The next month went by in a blur of class, nightmares and Quidditch practice, and soon it was time for us to face Ravenclaw. Our entire team was determined to win every single game this year and take the cup home. The morning of the game consisted of the seven of us nibbling on breakfast, Allan coming and wishing me luck, though wearing Ravenclaw apparel (I was slightly disappointed that he couldn't make an exception and wear red and gold-but I was letting it go, he was allowed to support his house), and all of us making our way towards the Quidditch pitch.

After we were all changed Wood started his lengthy speech that I completely ignored. And soon we were making our way onto the pitch. I could hear Lee announcing us, and the Ravenclaw team and Wood and Rodger Davies shook hands, then we were up in the air.

I was soaring around the pitch, tuning out what Lee was saying, not allowing myself to get distracted. I needed to catch that snitch; there was no doubt about it. I wanted to slaughter them. So I continued to circle the pitch, watching Joy, the Ravenclaw seeker, just in case she saw the snitch first.

About a half an hour into the game we were winning, 100-20, when I spotted the snitch. It was close to the Gryffindor goal posts, on the other side of the pitch. I immediately raced towards it, and I knew Joy was headed there too. She was closer than I was, but not by much. We were neck and neck (she was just barely ahead) and the snitch was almost within grabbing distance. That was when I heard it.

"Hey Prince! Wasn't your father in Ravenclaw? He would be so ashamed of you if you won!" Someone yelled, and I am pretty sure it was Nott.

I lost my concentration for a minute, but that was all Joy needed. Soon enough The Ravenclaw end had erupted into cheers, and the Gryffindor team solemnly made our way towards the ground. We had lost 170-120. I had failed. I had fucking failed. I wanted to do one thing, and I couldn't even do it.

None of us talked as we walked to the locker room to change, we hadn't lost a match for an entire year. And now that we had, it was entirely my fault. I felt like shit, complete and utter shit.

We changed in silence, and didn't stay after we had finished changing. Just as I was about to leave Wood called me back, and I knew that I should have suspected as much. He was not going to be happy with me.

"Prince, stay. We need to talk," he said, his voice void of any emotion, which I knew was not a good sign.

I just nodded my head, and we walked towards his little office. My mind briefly flashed towards all of the things we had done in that room, but I quickly dismissed them. Now was definitely not the time.

I sat down in the chair on the other side of his desk while he sat behind it.

"I'm sorry," I said, and for once when I was talking to him, I actually meant it.

"I know. But this needs to stop Prince. I know that you lost your family, but they would not want you to sulk like you have been. You shouldn't have listened to Slytherins, because if you hadn't, you would have had the snitch, and we would have won."

"Do you know how hard it is to tune out something like that?" I asked, frustrated-not everything in life had to do with Quidditch and winning.

"YES!" He said, "Do you think that they just sit behind my goal posts for fun? Do you remember last year when my father was in the hospital? I dealt with their mocking, but unlike you I didn't let it get to me. I didn't let it ruin my game. If you want to be a professional player you can't let cheers like that get to you!"

"I KNOW THAT WOOD! And I'm sorry!" I all but shouted, "IT JUST SUCKS! I can't go a day without thinking about them, and if I'm happy, I feel guilty. You don't get it Wood; you haven't lost your parents! You don't understand how yelling that my father would be ashamed of you can affect someone and ruin the game!"

"IT HAPPENS TO ME EVERY FUCKING GAME PRINCE!" he shouted, "When my father was sick I had to listen to the repeated cheers of them telling me that they hoped my father died! It sucks! But I powered through all of the jeers and shouts like that! I had to!"

"Well I'm sorry that moving on isn't as easy for me! I'm sorry they affect me like the do! I'M FUCKING SORRY!" I shouted, "What else do you want me to bloody say?"

"I want you to stop sulking, everyone's worried about you. You eat the bare minimum, you hardly ever smile, you haven't laughed and you walk around looking like a zombie," he said, "So I'm sorry Prince, for what I'm about to do. I really didn't want to have to do this."

I was filled with dread, he wouldn't kick me off of the team just because I missed the snitch would he?

"If you do not stop this you will be kicked off the team. You are becoming unhealthy skinny because you don't eat as much; you tire a lot more quickly because you don't get energy from eating or sleeping, and you have a negative energy that brings down the team. I have given you a month and a half, but it ends now. If you don't change you are getting kicked off the team. I'm not asking you to forget your parents, but I'm asking you to take care of yourself, and start moving on! Your parents wouldn't want this! You have completely let yourself go! And if you don't stop you can risk us losing the cup, your Quidditch career, and you could end up injured because of passing out on your broom. As your captain I cannot allow that," he said.

I glared at him. I could not believe that he just said that. I stood up and smacked him across the face. Hard. And stalked out of the room.

"I WOULD RECOMMEND GETTING THE DREAMLESS SLEEP POTION!" he shouted after me, and I just flipped him off over my shoulder.

I tried to stop the furious tears that were streaming down my face, and the worst part of it was, I knew deep down that he was right. I needed to change. I just didn't know where to start. How did one even start moving on from something as awful as loosing family members?

**Oliver's POV:**

I knew I was an arse for doing that, but I refused to allow us to lose another game. I only told her what she needed to hear, and what her friends were afraid to tell her. I sat back down at my desk and tried not to remember what had been done on the desk during the previous year.

_I knew that had been tough on them during practice, but I was determined to win the cup. We could not lose. So we all walked towards the changing rooms, and I couldn't help but admire my girlfriend (that was still extremely weird to say) from behind. I don't think she understood how hot she looked when she rode a broom. I waited patiently for everyone to get changed and showered, before I called Talli back. I could see the twins sharing a look and laughing, while the girls giggled and Talli rolled her eyes. As we made our way into my 'office', the minute the door was closed I pulled her close and captured her lips with mine._

_"You have no idea how sexy you look playing Quidditch," I told her, and she grinned against my mouth, and started tugging at my shirt, impatiently._

_"Neither do you," she said, when she finally got it off._

_She started running her hands on my stomach, causing me to moan. I put my hands on her hips, and moved them over her flat stomach till they rested under her breasts. She moaned and mover her hands to my hair, pulling me closer. I tugged off her shirt, and we both moaned at the skin on skin contact._

_I reached my hand behind her back and started tugging at the gold bra, the damn thing needed to be removed so that her-_

I quickly snapped myself out of it. I needed to find Tiffany…I just hoped Talli listened to my advice, I didn't have time to find another seeker. And it was too strange when she wasn't talking at practice and annoying the shit out of me. So I closed my playbook and headed towards the castle. As I was walking towards the common room I heard crying. I stopped dead in my tracks, and turned. I saw Talli sitting at the window, and felt like a complete bastard. I wanted to go up and put my arms around her because for once she didn't deserve it, but I knew that she would stop if I did, and she needed it. She needed to let her emotions out, if she knew it or not.

When I got to the common room I found George, and told him what had happened. He was the more compassionate one of the twins, and I figured if she would allow anyone to comfort her it would be him. He just nodded at me and set off, knowing his 'sister' needed him. And I continued on my quest for my girlfriend.

About an hour later George came walking into the common room, he looked at me and nodded, letting me know that everything was okay, and I went back to making out with my girlfriend. Okay, so she wasn't much of a girlfriend as a fuck buddy, but I mean, have you heard her talk? But she was hot, and she was easy, so it worked.

I tried to tune out Alicia's voice saying that I was just doing this to get over Talli, because we all knew that was a complete lie. She really needed to get it of her head that we were getting together at some point in the future.

Those thoughts brought me back to the conversation that I had had with her earlier, and I felt like a complete ass; but I knew it was what she had to hear. I knew that everyone had tried talking to her, and I knew that she was so passionate about Quidditch that she would do anything to stay on the team. Not that she ever had to worry, she was too good to kick off the team, unless of course I really was concerned that her health would get in the way. I just hoped that our conversation gave her the kick that she needed to move on.

**Alicia's POV:**

George came up to Katie, Angelina and I as we were working on our homework. Well, pretending to at least. We were all watching the portrait hole and waiting for Talli to come in. None of us knew what Ollie had told her, but we all knew that it was not pleasant. I knew that whatever it was, he felt guilty, he was distracting himself with Tiffany and my guess was trying to desperately forget what just happened.

"You should go to the kitchens, you all need a girls' night, and Talli is down there. I think she needs some girl time. Oliver talked to her after the game, and well…I let her explain…just know it wasn't pretty…" he told us, and we took off quickly, knowing George would move our homework.

I was curious to what Oliver had told her, but whatever it was, we figured that we needed to get there quickly, and we did. Before I knew it Katie was tickling the pear and we were in the kitchens where Talli was sitting eating a giant chocolate cake.

"Okay, darling what happened?" Angelina asked, walking over and taking a fork, and began digging into a cake.

"Have I really looked like a dead person walking?" she asked, her eyes wide and red from crying, and we nodded (knowing that at this point in time, she needed the truth).

Tears started streaming down her face, and I wanted to know what the fuck he said to her to make her this upset.

"I'm s-s-s-so s-s-s-o-o-r-rr-rr-ry," she said, and we all rushed and hugged her, "It's ju-u-ust so-o-o ha-ar-d-d-d."

"I know, sweetie," Katie said, and we tightened the hug.

It was extremely weird to see Talli cry. She hated it, especially in front of other people. That is when she started explaining what Oliver had said to her, and while yes, he was an arse. I could have hugged him (right after I smacked him of course), because deep down I knew that Talli was going to start healing. I knew that she was going to listen to what he had said, and I knew that she was going to start the slow process of moving on.

On the inside I smirked because I also knew that he was the only one who could get her to start healing. I highly doubted that Allan could do that (especially since he had been notably absent these past few weeks), and the rest of us had tried. We had tried so hard to pull her out of the shell that she had become. It looked like Oliver was the only one who had been able to success; and neither of them could see that they were perfect for each other! HA!

* * *

**Thank you to everyone who has been kudoing this story! I got a few for the last chapter, so I thought I would give you an update! :) How about a few more kudos and a couple comments? I want to know who everyone's favorite characters are at the moment! So comment and tell me something you liked/didn't like about the chapter and who your favorite/least favorite character is?**

**Thanks all! :)**


	12. Of Valentines Day

I woke up on the chilly February morning, cursing Oliver Wood to the deepest pits of hell for scheduling such an early Quidditch practice. I rolled onto the floor (I really should stop doing this, my hips did not appreciate it), taking my cocoon of covers with me, and landed with a thump.

"Ow," I mumbled, rolling towards my trunk, still too lazy to get up and walk (Alicia was walking out of the bathroom, looking completely unfazed).

I opened my trunk and pulled out my warm, fuzzy red socks, my comfortable black yoga pants, my bright blue sweatshirt and grabbed my gym shoes. I changed quickly, not wanting to go and function-but knowing that I did not have a choice. Once I was ready I waited for my friends to be ready. I really couldn't tell you how grateful I was for them this past week.

Over the last week they had been incredibly supportive and kind. They did not push me to talk about it, which was good, because I didn't want to. I started to feel a little better. I was eating better, and smiling and laughing, because I knew that was what my parents would have wanted for me. Believe it or not, Oliver Wood was right. I was not counting on that happening again.

"Ang, hurry up or we'll be late!" Alicia said, tapping her foot impatiently.

Angelina came rushing out of the bathroom pulling her hair into a ponytail, and we quickly made our way down to the pitch. When we walked out of the castle I started cursing Oliver all over again.

"Fucking Wood, it is too cold to be practicing outside," I grumbled.

"What about fucking me?" he said, from behind me, and I rolled my eyes, that would be the part that he paid attention to.

"It's too cold to practice outside, why couldn't we practice in the Room of Requirement?" I said, "And don't get your hopes up, I wouldn't fuck you if you paid me."

"Are you talking about becoming a hooker again Talli?" Fred asked, laughing.

"Yes!" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm, "Because, really, what else would I want to do? The life of getting paid for sex is calling my name, I cannot imagine a better career, like Quidditch, who would want to do that?"

"I KNEW IT!" Fred yelled, laughing hysterically (seriously-he was way too cheerful in the morning).

"It is too early for yelling," Angelina said, glaring at Fred, and he rolled his eyes.

After that practice went well (thankfully), and all of us girls went up to our dorm rooms quickly, getting ready for Hogsmeade that day. Yes, it was the holiday I dreaded the most every year, Valentine's Day. There was really no point to the holiday, but I had promised to go to Hogsmeade with Alan. I supposed I owed it to him, for sulking lately, I think that he is slightly angry at me…hence the ignoring…

After a nice and warm shower I changed quickly into my skinny jeans, and then I put my bright blue v-neck sweater on, with my black-heeled booties, and my black leather jacket. I quickly dried my hair and left it down, quickly straightening it (thank Merlin for wands). I quickly applied makeup, before running out the door. I was going to be late, and almost not even fashionably.

"Hey!" I said, giving him a peck on the cheek when I entered the Great Hall.

"Hey, you look beautiful," he said, grinning at me, before taking my hand and leading me out to the carriages.

Both of us were incredibly eager to get out of the castle, even if it was in the freezing cold, with the wind blowing snow harshly into our faces.

"Where do you want to go today?" he asked, giving me his cute grin.

"Why don't we go to the Three Broomsticks?" I offered, praying that I would not get stuck in that dreadful tea place.

The last time I was there I didn't even last five minutes.

_"So what's the plan for today?" I asked Oliver, giving him a huge grin._

_"Well you said that you have never been to Madam Pudifoots, so I figured maybe we'd go there, I bet you don't last five minutes," he said with a wicked grin on his face._

_"I bet you I could," I said, sticking my tongue out at him, "I'm surprised that you would even be caught dead in there."_

_"You'd be surprised how many girls insist that we go there. I want to barf every time I walk in."_

_I rolled my eyes, "Well, what do I get if I win the bet?"_

_"A kiss," he said smirking._

_"And if I lose?"_

_"You need to kiss me!" he said smirking, and I laughed._

_"You are so on."_

_We made our way into the teashop and I stopped dead in my tracks. It looked as though something barfed up as much pink as they could. Oliver smirked when he saw the horror on my face, but I put a fake cheery grin on. There was no way I was going to lose this bet._

_And I didn't. I waited for six minutes before grabbing his hand and dragging him out._

_"I win!" I said, sticking my tongue out at him._

_"I'm surprised," he laughed, before leaning his head down towards me._

"Ummm, earth to Talli…" Allan said, shaking his hand in front of my face.

"Sorry, zoned out…" I said laughing, "What did you say?"

"I said that the Three Broomsticks was fine." (Thank God.)

When we arrived to the station we walked carefully towards the Three Broomsticks. To say it was crowded would be an understatement, but I found a table in the back and made a bee-line for it while Allan went to get drinks and chips. On my way I passed a sour looking Tiffany, a laughing Wood, Fred, and Alex, an amused looking Terri (but the amusement didn't quite reach her eyes), and an 'annoyed' looking Alicia. I gave her an amused look, wondering how she got roped into that, and she shot me a look that said she clearly was regretting that decision. She turned her head slightly and jokingly mouthed 'help me!' I shook my head, laughing at her, before quickly stealing one of her chips.

"I hate you!" she said in mock anger.

"Love you too darling!" I said, sitting down in an empty chair at a table near by.

I searched for Allan in the line, knowing that he was still going to be in the back, and I saw him talking to his ex Gina. I rolled my eyes as she blatantly flirted with him, and I remembered just how much time he had recently spent with her. I knew that I could not be justifiably angry with him because I hadn't been the best girlfriend these past few weeks, but I still didn't appreciate it. I watched as he finally got to the front and ordered three butterbeers and a thing of chips. I glared, why the hell was he getting three? Was he planning on drinking two? I found out soon enough that I was wrong though, and it sure as hell did not make me happy.

I watched as the bitch followed  _my_ boyfriend back to the table. I knew that if blush actually showed up on my cheeks I would have been red with anger, but luckily, it didn't.

"Hey Talli!" she said, with such a fake sweetness I could have probably eaten it.

"Hi Gina!" I replied, just as sweetly, if not more so.

I saw Alicia shoot me a weird look (with concern in her eyes), and I smirked at her. Clearly it was a little too sweet (oops?).

"You don't mind if she joins us for drinks do you Talli?" Allan asked, completely clueless to our tension, "Her date was sick and couldn't make it today…"

"No, of course I don't mind," I said, I would not give her the satisfaction of seeing how angry I actually was.

I really wanted to tell him 'No I really don't want to have a drink with that slutty bitch,' but I really doubted that would go over very well.

She and Allan continued about their previous conversation, something about the History of Magic essay, and I felt like such a third wheel. On my own date. There really was something wrong with that. Alicia gave me a sympathetic look, shooting a glare between the two of them, while Fred looked between Alicia and I confused. Wood was sitting there silently laughing at my pain, naturally, and when Fred finally figured out what was going on, he erupted with psychotic laughter. People turned and gave him a confused look, including my boyfriend and the bitch, before realizing it was just Fred and continuing on with whatever they were doing. Fred randomly laughing was something of a norm around Hogwarts, after six years people just ignored him.

I caught Fred's eye and flipped him off, he in reply, sent me a smirk and mouthed 'you know you love me!' I rolled my eyes and mouthed 'rot in hell' back. He pretended to be hurt, before going back to his meal.

I turned back to the conversation at my table, and figured they hardly knew that I was here. Neither of them had noticed my blatant conversation with my friends, as they were both too absorbed in their conversation.

"So Talli," Gina said, with a smirk that clearly said no good was coming, "What do you want to do after school?"

"I want to be a Quidditch player," I said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's nice…" she said, "Though personally I want to go into Magical Law, that way I can do something useful, like help people."

I rolled my eyes, not giving into her bait, "What do you want to do Allan?"

"Something with Magical Law," he said, smiling and Gina giggled.

"So what are we going to do for the rest of the day?" Gina asked, addressing Allan.

I balled my hands into fists under the table. I thought this was just a drink!  
"I thought that maybe we could go to Zonko's," Allan said, hardly noticing that this was supposed to be  _our_ date.

"I need to use the loo..." I said, "I'll be right back."

"Okay, when you get back we'll go to Zonko's!"

I nodded before walking off to the loo, with Gina's high-pitched giggle could be heard from across the bar. I saw Alicia quickly excuse herself from the table and she followed me into the bathroom.

"What the hell is Gina doing?" she said, angrily.

"I have no fucking clue; I think she's trying to win Allan back though. I am officially the third wheel on my own date! What the fuck?!"

"I know, like what the hell? She must be extremely desperate! I mean, who does that?"

"You're telling me…" I grumbled, "Do you think that he's cheating on me?"

"Most likely…" Alicia said bluntly, "Sorry Tal."

"That's alright," I said, but as I made my way back to my table I found it empty.

Rolling my eyes I made my way out of the Pub. I knew that they went to Zonko's, but I really didn't fancy spending the day with my boyfriend, and the ex-girlfriend he was more than likely cheating on me with.

I walked out into the cold, and looked for an open carriage. When I couldn't find one, I groaned, and decided to just walk. About half way to the castle the snow had gotten into my boots and my feet were going numb. I doubted that Allan and Gina even noticed my absence. I glared at the falling snow, angrily. Then I noticed two figures ahead of me. They were standing close enough that I could tell they were a couple, but far enough away that I could tell they were angry with each other. As I got a little closer I could tell that the couple was Lee and Joy, and I instantly felt sorry for my friend.

I could hardly feel anything as I entered the castle, but instead of going straight to the common room I walked to the kitchens to get hot chocolate. I knew there was a reason why I loved the house elves at Hogwarts when they not only gave me hot chocolate, but also fresh chocolate chip cookies. I smiled graciously, and after thanking them for like the fifth time I walked into the common room, ignoring the confused looks of the younger students.

Once I got the common room at sat on the love seat closest to the fire and drank my hot chocolate. I was thankful that most of the younger students were out playing in the snow so the common room was basically empty. I glared at the fire, still extremely angry. I tried to keep my thoughts away from my father's death. Though, when I wasn't thinking about that I was thinking about my mother's disappearance and wondering if she was still alive. I doubted it, but I could still hope. If she was I wondered if she thought about my father and me often, or if she even knew of my father's death. I didn't notice the tears streaming down my face until the portrait opened and my hand went to wipe the tears away. I felt the cushion next to me sink and I could feel warm arms around me. I turned into the shoulder and sobbed harder. I cried over my father, my mother and over the fact that my boyfriend was an ass, who was also most likely cheating on me. Afterwards I would blame it on PMS, but in the back of my mind I knew that either way I still would be sitting here sobbing.

"What's wrong Tal?" Lee asked kindly.

"Just everything," I said, before launching into my story.

Lee was patient, just letting me get it all out, hugging me tighter. I was so thankful for having him as such a good friend.

When I was done with my story I asked, "So why aren't you in Hogsmeade?"

"Joy and I had a fight," he said, rolling his eyes, "Over something as stupid as where to spend the day. She wanted to go to Madam Pudifoots and I wanted to go the Three Broomsticks. So I suggested we do both, but she wouldn't agree. Eventually we just came back to the castle, to annoyed to actually do anything."

"Who would actually want to go into that place? It's absolutely gross! Just don't blame yourself completely Lee, it's her fault too, she should be able to compromise."

Lee nodded, and we continued to munch on the still warm cookies. I sat like that for the next couple of hours, just enjoying each other's company.

"Thank you Lee," I said quietly.

"For what?" he asked startled.

"For everything, especially for listening," I said, giving him a gracious smile.

"Anytime Tal," he said, grinning at me.

When the portrait door opened again, Alicia and Alex came walking towards us, hand in hand.

"Hey Talli, Allan's outside, he wants to talk," Alicia said, rolling her eyes, "Personally I think that you should make the bastard wait awhile…"

I nodded, before getting up and walking towards the portrait, choosing to ignore her last comment. We walked in silence to the end of the corridor. I could feel all of my anger flooding back to me.

"Where the hell did you go Talli?" he asked, angrily, "You just left! On Valentine's Day too! It was supposed to be our day!"

"Ummm, I don't know," I said, glaring at him, "Maybe I didn't really want to spend the day with your ex! Besides I walked into Zonko's and didn't see you! So technically you are the one that left me!"

I don't know why I lied, but I was so angry that I didn't really care.

"You said you were fine with her spending the day with us!" he said, rolling his eyes.

"For drinks! Not the entire day!"

"Well, what else am I supposed to do? Tell her to leave? She was upset Talli!"

"Yes, actually that would have been a lot better! But you couldn't ditch her nearly as easily as you ditched me, could you? You still like her don't you?" I accused, and as Allan opened his mouth to defend himself, I cut him off and kept going, "You have been spending so much time with her recently. Much more time with her than me. ARE YOU CHEATING ON ME?"

I finished yelling.

"She's my friend!" he said angrily, "Am I not allowed to have friends now Talli? I seem to see you spending more time with the twins than me. Are you cheating on me? Besides, it's not as though you have been around to hang out with!"

I was about to slap him when I noticed a hickey on his neck, one that I sure as hell didn't put there.

"I'm sorry my parents died, I figured that would allow me some time to be upset. But noooo. That didn't sit well with you did it Allan? How long have you been cheating on me?" I said, in a dangerously low voice.

"I'm not!" he said, rolling his eyes.

"BULL SHIT!" I yelled, "You have a fucking hickey on your neck! One that I clearly didn't give you. So how long…"

"Since Christmas," he mumbled, glaring at me.

"You are an ass hole Allan. We are done."

He just rolled his eyes, "It shouldn't have even started. I only used you to get back at Gina."

I reached up my arm to punch him, but someone grabbed my fist.

"What the fuck Wood?" I said glaring.

"He may be an ass, but you don't want to hit him Prince. You'll just get a detention, and miss Quidditch."

Allan rolled his eyes and stalked away, and I turned to slap Wood. But when I saw Snape round the corner I decided a simple glare would do before I stalked off. Trying to figure out what I could hit without getting into trouble. I sure did know how to pick them, didn't I?

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**Hello All! Thank you for all of the kudos! :) I really appreciate them! I still want to know who your favorite characters or who your favorite pairings are! :) Thanks!**


	13. Of Payback and Arguing

I walked into the Great Hall with a smirk on my lips. The bastard had no idea what was coming. I scanned the Great Hall for him, and was happy to see that he hadn't arrived yet. The girls and I walked over to the middle of the table and sat down, our eyes continuously wandering towards the giant oak doors. Every time the doors would open our heads would whip around to look and see if it was  _him_.

When he finally entered the Great Hall Katie quickly cast the incantation, and we watched as the spell took effect. Soon heads were turning and chuckles could be heard throughout the Hall. He looked around, confused as to why people were laughing. 'The Bitch' noticed and gasped. She turned and whispered in his ear. He turned bright red, and his eyes came up and met with mine across the Hall. I sat and smirked at him, knowing that he could not prove that I was the one who did this and sent him a wink. He glared at me, wrapped his arm around Gina and walked over the Ravenclaw table.

Fred and George entered the Great Hall shortly later, looking extremely proud of themselves. They walked over to us and sat down.

"Really? Writing cheater on his forehead was the best you could come up with? Have you learned nothing?" Fred asked, looking at with mock disappointment.

"What would you suggest I do 'Oh Great One'?" I asked, rolling my eyes at him.

"You could charm all of the suits of armor to sing 'Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater' every time he walks by," Fred said with a smirk.

"That's actually brilliant," Katie said, laughing and kissing her boyfriend on the cheek.

"Did you guys get it done?" Lee asked, sitting down.

"Of course!" Fred and George said in unison.

I sent them a grateful smile. Terri and Joy made their way over to where we were sitting and squeezed in so that they were sitting next to their boyfriends. Lucky me was sitting right next to Fred, so I know had Terri's very pointy elbow in my side. I went to scoot over but Oliver sat down right next to me, and I glared at him. I was going to shove him over a little when Tiffany came and sat down on his lap so she was straddling him.

I made a noise of disgust at the two couples when Tiffany started making out with Oliver. I swear she was trying to eat his face.

She looks up at my noise and smirked, "Are you jealous?"

"No just extremely disgusted, could you please take to a broom closet? Or, you know, anywhere where people aren't attempting to eat food."

She glared at me, and gave Oliver a pleading look, the horny bitch.

He smirked and turned to all of us, "We have practice tonight at seven, on the pitch. If you're late you need to run an extra two laps for every five minutes you're late."

As he said that he gave me a pointed look and I rolled my eyes. A grin soon grazed my lips as I noticed Allan getting up and leaving the Great Hall quickly. My smile only widened when I saw Gina making her way over to me, her determination clear in her plain brown eyes.

"What the hell?" she practically growled at me.

"What?" I asked, faking ignorance.

She gave me a look, showing that she knew I was faking, and I shrugged. I never claimed to be a good actress.

"You know what! You can't punish him for being in love!" She said, the venom in her voice was very clear (though, to be honest, it wasn't really that cruel-I had dealt with worse).

"And I would have found nothing wrong with that if he had broken up with me. How does it feel to officially be a slag?" I asked her, my green eyes cold.

"HOW DARE YOU!" she shouted, and anyone who was not watching us, now was, "How dare you call me a slag?"

"Well, you were messing around with a boy who had a girlfriend…so technically I'm just stating a fact."

"You're just jealous. You wish you were still with him! But you best remember that he's mine now. Not yours. We're in love, he was just using you. What we have is real. So stay away from him!"

Before I could reply she stalked off, but I still muttered, "Why the hell would I be jealous that you're dating a cheating arse?"

The people in the Great Hall kept looking over at me and at the door that the bitch had just left through. I could hear the whispers, and I knew that everyone was talking about me, but I decided to ignore it and I turned my attention back to my friends.

"Why does everyone think that I'm jealous of their relationships? First Tiffany and now Gina? Like what the fuck?" I groaned, shoving my head into my hands dramatically.

My friends just sat there and laughed at me-how kind.

"You guys suck," I said, looking at them in mock anger before gathering my stuff, "Come on guys let's go to class."

On my way to the dungeons I couldn't keep the smile off of my face as I heard, 'CHEATER CHEATER PUMPKIN EATER!' ring through the hall way. Plus we were finally finishing our Amortentia, which had been put on delay for some unknown reason, and I knew that I was going to get a good grade on it.

I entered the dark room, and saw Snape glowering at the Gryffindors as we entered the room. His hair look particularly greasy today, and I almost snorted in disgust, honestly didn't the man ever shower?

I sat down at my desk, and quickly worked on finishing my potion, which was the correct light pink color. I spared a glance at Nott's potion and saw it was a dark blue. I eyed the potion with caution, knowing that this was not going to end well.

"So I hear that your boyfriend got smart huh?" Nott said.

"Not really, but I guess in your eyes everyone's smart huh?" I asked him, and he glared at me.

I watched as my potion changed into final dark pink color, and grinned, quickly putting it into a vial incase Nott's potion blew up.

"So are you ready to lose to the Huffle next weekend?" he asked, smirking.

"I don't think that we'll be losing," I said, smirking.

"I wouldn't count on winning," he growled, giving me a sadistic smile.

"Are you threatening me?" I said, in a low, angry voice.

He just grinned and continued doing Merlin knows what to that dreadful potion of his. Snape started walking around the room, going up and down the room, instead of across the rows like usual. When he approached Nott's potion he grinned.

"Five points to Slytherin for improvement," he drawled, and he made his way foreword to look at Lee's potion.

"Five points from Gryffindor, this potion is horrendous," He growled, and Lee looked outraged, his potion was only a few shades lighter than it needed to be.

When he reached my potion I tried not to grin, he glared at me, wrote down my grade and walked away. I smirked in victory, until I heard bubbling from Nott's potion.

I quickly ducked under my table, as did everyone else in the area, preparing ourselves for the explosion that was about to occur. We were not surprised when blue goo splattered across the room, and I felt bad for all of the potions that he had just ruined. Snape didn't comment, and just waved his wand cleaning up the room. I let out a noise of frustration, knowing that if it had been a Gryffindor they would have had a detention, docked points, and would have had to clean the class themselves.

After Potions we made our way out into the freezing cold where Hagrid was waiting for us. I grinned knowing that this was going to be a fun class, and a vast improvement from Potions.

Quidditch practice went by quickly, and I grinned knowing that we had a great chance at beating Hufflepuff. We made our way into the locker room, and sat down on the benches waiting for Oliver to give us a speech and dismiss us.

I couldn't help but think about how nice he had been to me lately, generally avoiding sending mean comments my way, staying out of my way, and I knew that his talk was what helped me start recovering from Christmas break. Now before you go and get any ideas, WE DO NOT LIKE EACH OTHER. We have just had a silent agreement to have a time of peace. One that I was very appreciative for.

"Great practice tonight guys, if we play like that next weekend we'll win for sure. I expect to see all of you back at the pitch tomorrow morning at seven. After such a great practice I think you deserve an extra hour of sleep (I reframed from rolling my eyes at how  _very generous_  he was being). Now you may leave."

We all got up and made our way back to the castle, all ready to collapse on our beds.

When we woke up in the morning we quickly changed, pajamas flying across the room in our hurry. We really needed to stop sleeping in so late. We practically ran down to the pitch to avoid being late. Wood eyed us with amusement when we practically fell over when we reached the pitch, and when I looked at us I realized why.

Katie's brown hair was half out of the ponytail, Angelina was wearing two different shoes, my shirt was on inside out, and Alicia was wearing a navy shirt and black pants. I started giggling and soon the girls joined in. Sleeping in too late was definitely something we should avoid.

After practice, and a change of clothes we made our way to the Great Hall for breakfast. We arrived just in time for the owl post; owls were swooping left and right dropping off letters and copies of  _The Daily Prophet_. I made the mistake of taking a sip of apple juice before looking at my copy. When I saw the heading I promptly spat the juice out in shock. Lucky Oliver was across from me, and looked at me with disgust but I didn't really notice, I was too busy reading.

**_Ministry is Pushing for Action._ **

_The Minister of Magic has been seen holding multiple meetings, talking with his board of advisors. There have been rumors going around that they are discussing of different actions that they can take to make a stand against the recent attacks. The Ministry is asking that anyone with information about Sirius Black to please come forward. It is assumed that he is behind the recent attacks anyone who is found helping him will be punished, unless they come forward._

_If Sirius Black is not found, there will be random house searches anywhere that he is believed to be. The Ministry is looking at this like an act of treason, one almost as severe as when You-Know-Who rose to power._

_The Ministry is also investigating the involvement of surrounding countries, and is quoted saying, "If any other countries are involved, then it is an act of war, and we must respond in such a way."_

I stared in shock. I knew that the Minister was encouraging a possible war, it just seemed sudden. Never once had there been mentions that Black could be hiding in another country, and now he was openly saying that if another country is helping him, it will start a war. I felt sick to my stomach, because I knew that no matter which way this ended, it would not be good. The entire Hall had fallen silent as everyone read, only to start breaking out into fights and debates. None would top the argument I was about to witness though.

"That is absolutely terrible!" Katie said a look of disgust on her face.

"How?" said George, looking at his girlfriend, "It's necessary to defend ourselves. If another country is hiding Black, then they are acting against us first."

"Defend ourselves?" she said, giving a cold laugh, "It would just get more people killed. We don't even know that Sirius Black is behind all of these killings and disappearances!"

"And you don't think that they won't kill just as many people if we just stand by and watch? We need to do something to find him, as all of our other tactics haven't been working" George said in disbelief.

People were starting to stare. Katie and George, the 'perfect couple', were now arguing; in the middle of the Great Hall where everyone could see.

"Umm, guys, you may want to bring it down," Angelina said, eyeing everyone, "Besides Katie, George has a point…"

"NO! How could you think that I would want everyone to just stand by and watch? Clearly you don't know me very well!" she hissed at him ignoring Angie, "There are peaceful ways to solve problems you know."

"WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY'VE BEEN TRYING?" George yelled, aggravated.

All eyes were now on them, any previous arguments were forgotten.

"THEY CLEARLY AREN'T TRYING VERY HARD!"

"NOT EVERYTHING IS SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS KATIE! PEOPLE FIGHT! NOT EVERYTHING CAN BE SOLVED THROUGH PEACEFUL TALKING!"

"OH AND VIOLENCE SOLVES EVERYTHING?"

"NO, BUT WE HAVE TRIED TAKING PEACEFUL ACTION AND ITS NOT WORKING! WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST ANYONE WHO COULD BE HIDING HIM!"

"I can't believe that you could support something so violent," she growled and stalked out of the Great Hall with her head held high.

George looked defeated and dug into his food.

"Damn it, I thought that she was going to be okay. I didn't think she would start this again…" Alicia said, and us girls nodded, "Come on, we need girl time."

We quickly got up and made our way towards our dorm room where we knew Katie would be.

"Katie," Angelina said as we walked into the room.

"What," she practically growled, clearly still angry from her fight with George.

"You're doing it again…" Alicia told her matter-of-factly.

"What am I doing?" she said, giving the three of us confused looks.

"Looking for an out. You're running scared," I told her, giving her a pointed look.

"I am not!" she denied, "I just don't see how he could support what could become a potential war."

"Katie, the three of us support it and you aren't yelling at us…"

"Yes, well, I'm not dating you three…" she said, but we knew that she was thinking about what we had just told her.

"How about we go swimming? That way we can all de-stress," Angelina suggested, and we all nodded.

We quickly changed, and made our way to the Prefect bathroom, happy to have some girl time.

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**Here is the next chapter! Please comment and let mw know that you think! :)**


	14. Of Leaps and Confusion

I walked towards the Great Hall feeling sick. I was almost positive that someone had cursed the butterflies in my stomach and changed them into birds. It was not a comfortable feeling, I can assure you. I mean, I was used to nerves, I got them before every match, but it was never this bad. My pride was at stake today, and I had to win. After what happened in the match against Ravenclaw I knew that I couldn't allow myself to slip up again. If we lost today Slytherin would play Hufflepuff in the House Cup and if we won Slytherin would play us.

I sat down and the long oak table, right next to Fred, who was shoveling eggs into his mouth, while Lee looked at him in disgust. Lee was decked out in gold and red, showing his support for the team

I placed some waffles on my plate, but I couldn't bring myself to eat them. I was just too nervous.

"Tals, you need to eat something," Fred said, looking at me with brotherly concern.

"He's right you know…" Oliver said sitting down next to me.

I think that this had to be some kind of record. Well at least since last year. Oliver and I had managed to get along just fine for the past few weeks, and, dare I say it, we had become something similar to friends. I still wouldn't go quite that far though…

"Well, obviously I need to eat something…" I muttered, "I have waffles on my plate don't I?"

"Well, yeah, but you haven't touched them. Before you know it they will be cold, and no one likes cold waffles!" George said, smirking at me.

"Well, maybe I like my waffles cold!" I said, stubbornly.

George snorted and Fred rolled his eyes.

"Just eat," Oliver said, "You are going to need your energy for the game. We need to win."

I looked at my plate knowing that I was the reason we needed to win the match, and I was filled with determination. I would show people that they couldn't get to me. I would make my parents proud. I started eating my waffles and started going over plays in my head.

By the time we got up to head to the Pitch I had finished my waffles and was focusing on keeping them down. Katie gave me a reassuring smile from her spot next to George (yeah, thankfully they had made up and she apologized for being an idiot and over reacting), but unfortunately it didn't really help make me feel any better.

We got into the locker room and changed into our uniforms silently, all trying to get focused. Oliver kept glancing at me, looking a little concerned; I think he could tell just how nervous I was. He met my gaze and motioned towards his office, indicating that he wanted me to follow him in there. I had to keep my mind from wandering to what that motion would have meant a year ago and I couldn't help but admire how good he looked in his uniform. So sue me, a man in a Quidditch uniform was a weakness of mine, even if it was Oliver Wood. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Alicia smirking, but I chose to ignore it.

"Don't be so nervous Talli, you have been doing great in practice, and I know that you are going to do great in the match. Diggory is good, but you're better."

"Thanks…" I said, giving him a funny look because while we had become somewhat friends, this was still uncharacteristically nice of him.

"I'm being serious Talli, just because you had a bad match last time doesn't mean that this match will be bad too. You need to learn from the bad games and then focus on what you can do better, which I know you have been doing."

I gave him a small smile, feeling a little better, "Thanks Oliver."

"Of course, I just want my team to play their best, and earlier I wasn't sure that you would be on top of your game, in fact you looked pale with nerves."

"Thanks Wood…" I said, giving him a fake glare and rolling my eyes.

"Any time Prince," he told me as we left his office, getting weird looks from the rest of the team.

**Oliver's POV:**

"Okay guys, let's go an beat the Puffs. I know that we can do this, the weather is looking nice for being the middle of the February, and it's clear and practically perfect flying conditions. If we play like we have been playing in practice we have a very good chance of winning," I said, "On the count of three. ONE…TWO…THREE!"

"LIONS!"

"HERE COMES THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM, CAPTAIN AND KEEPER WOOD, CHASERS BELL, SPINNET AND JOHNSON, FOLLOWED BY BEATERS WEASLY AND WEASLY AND LAST WE HAVE SEEKER PRINCE!" Lee announced, "THE HUFFLEPUFF TEAM IS RIGHT BEHIND THEM! CAPTAIN DIGGORY AS SEEKER, THE CHASERS ARE PREECE, MACAVOY AND APPLEBEE FOLLOWED BY THE BEATERS O'FLAHERTY AND RICKETT! AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST KEEPER FLEET!"

I watched as the Hufflepuff team made their way towards us as a mob of yellow and black.

"Now, I want a nice clean game from all of you," Madame Hooch said, eying us warily, "Okay, Captains shake hands."

I reached forward and shook Diggory's hand, giving him an intimidating look, which he tried to return but failed. After we shook hands we all shot into the air and I immediately shot towards the goal posts, preparing myself to protect the goals. I glanced around the pitch looking for the quaffle and I couldn't help but look at Talli who was looking around the pitch like a hawk. I was glad she was playing better than the last match.

I turned my attention back to the game and watched as Angelina scored the first game. I watched as the Hufflepuff chasers flew down the pitch tossing the quaffle in between each other. I watched Fred hit a bludger towards Justin Macavoy and who dropped the quaffle, only to have Sara Applebee catch it and continue flying towards me. She was eying the left hoop before she faked it towards the right. I dove and caught the quaffle before tossing it to Katie.

The match preceded much like this, and about an hour later the score was 100-40 us and there was still no sign of the snitch. Diggory called a time out because George hit Justin with a bludger and broke his nose. I took a moment to look into the stands and I saw the Quidditch Scouts sitting in the top row and I immediately felt the nerves hit me, hoping that they liked the way that I played. I must have looked a little pale because both Talli and Alicia looked at me and followed my gaze; both giving me a small grin, calming the nerves down a little.

"You guys are doing great, just keep playing like you have been," I told them.

The time out ended and we took off towards the sky again. I played harder knowing that the scouts were here, hoping to catch the eye of at least one of them and knowing that winning was the best way to catch their eyes. Then I saw the little golden ball and both Cedric and Talli flying after it. She was a head of him a little bit but he was gaining on her. They were diving closer and closer to the ground. I watched as they evened out racing towards the snitch, Cedric in the lead. I watched as he got closer and closer and as she fell behind a little. I watched her start to get up on her broom and immediately held my breath hoping she wasn't stupid enough to do what I thought she was going to do.

Of course, she was that stupid and I watched in horror as she jumped off her broom and dove for the snitch, catching it and falling towards the ground. Thankfully she was only a few feet in the air, but she hit the ground hard and proceeded to roll a little ways. I started flying towards the ground quickly, and Cedric was already at her side, shaking his head and helping her up. I'm sure Lee was having a field day with her little stunt but I had tuned everything out.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, eyeing her carefully, trying to find a point of injury.

"I'm fine…I think my wrist is broken, but I'll live," she told me, giving me a small smile that looked a little more like a pained grimace.

"You're absolutely insane did you know that? You could have been seriously injured! Are you stupid?" I asked, the rest of the team joining us on the ground, watching us cautiously, Alicia had a look of glee in her eyes but I didn't focus on that.

"But I wasn't and we won!" She replied stubbornly, rolling her eyes at me (typical).

"I'd much rather loose than any of my team mates get seriously injured!"

Talli just rolled her eyes (I think they were going to get stuck like that), "Just be happy we won!"

"GUYS WE WON!" Angelina said, trying to lighten the mood, "WE ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE CUP!"

That shut us up and I even managed to grin as we all started cheering.

**Talli's POV:**

I wandered back common room from the Hospital Wing in a great mood. Sure, jumping off my broom was a stupid move, but it was the only way we were going to win was if I did it. We needed that win and Oliver needed that win for the scouts to look at him. They wouldn't look at the loosing team and I knew how much being scouted meant to him. Not that I would ever admit that that was the pushing factor in me being an idiot.

I walked into the common room and up to our dormitories to get ready for our victory party smiling in excitement. The excitement was short lived though as I heard Tiffany's annoying voice in the hallway.

"Are you sleeping with someone else?" I heard her question angrily, "Are you sleeping with that whore Alicia (Oh hell no bitch, no one calls my friend a whore) or Talli (wait…you have got to be shitting me-WHY?!)?"

"Does it matter if I'm sleeping with someone else? We aren't together Tiffany; we hook up that's it. We aren't exclusive we aren't in a relationship. And for the record, no I am not hooking up with Alicia, and you have no right to call her a whore (GO OLIVER YOU TELL HER!) And as for Talli, you know I wouldn't touch her if you paid me."

I froze, what was that supposed to mean.

"Are you sure? You flew pretty damn fast to the ground when you thought she was hurt!"

"She's my team mate, of course I don't want to see her get hurt I don't want to have to replace her. The idea of hooking up with her though is just disgusting; we've been over this. Now can we please go to the common room so that we can get ready for the party?"

"If you promise…" she said, following him like a lost puppy, I kind of felt bad for her, she clearly like him, and the feelings were not returned.

I leaned against the wall thinking about what he said. I told myself it didn't hurt, that it meant nothing to me, but him saying that just reinforced that he only dated me last year to better the team. I blinked back the tears and decided that I was going to show him just how hot I could be, and make him re-think the whole 'disgusting' thing.

About two hours later we were all ready for the party. Angelina had her black hair down and in ringlet curls instead of it's usual straight. She had bright red lips to match her red knee length dress and a pair of killer sparkling heels. I was positive that Fred would get up and leave Terri at the sight of her.

Katie had on a yellow sundress that went about mid thigh and she wore pair of white wedges with them. She waved her normally straight brown hair and went with her natural beauty, adding minimal make up.

Alicia went all out, like always, wearing her tight leather skinnies, a red crop top and probably the highest pair of red heels I had ever seen. She had her newly dyed blonde hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail and she gave her eyes the smoky look.

I decided to wear my dark skinny jeans and a neon pink loose fitting tank top adding my neon pink heels to complete the outfit. I straightened my normally curly hair and did my make up similar to Alicia's with the smoky eye.

We made our way downstairs to where the party was beginning, Katie went off to find George while Alicia, Angelina and I went straight for the drinks. I grabbed a fire whiskey before dragging Angelina to dance while Alicia went to find Alex.

About an hour later we were all standing in a circle laughing and talking, all feeling a little tipsy…me probably a little more so. I was glaring at Wood who was looking confused while Tiffany looked smug. Katie was begging George to go and dance with her, while Alex was trying to convince Alicia to do the same. Joy and Lee seemed a little on edge, but were pretending to be completely fine and Terri was annoyed because Fred seemed to be paying more attention to Angelina than to her. Seriously, I did not understand why he was stringing Terri along, he obviously liked Angelina more; I knew he liked Terri…but I also knew that it would never come close to how much he liked Angelina.

I was starting to get really warm being surrounded by all the dancing people and everyone but Wood, Tiffany and myself had gone to dance so I decided to glare at him one last time before making my way out to the hall way, hoping to avoid any professors (to be honest though, I was too intoxicated to really care). I just needed some air and to be out of the same room as Wood, I was so desperate to leave that I didn't notice him following me. I just kept repeating his previous words in my head, over and over again, and each time it hurt a little more. I thought we were making progress, but I should have known better. I was furiously trying to blink back tears, refusing to cry over Oliver fucking Wood again.

I got out into the hallway and leaned my head against the cool stonewall, closing my eyes. I heard the portrait door open and some exit, but I just assumed that it was a Ravenclaw leaving the party. Well, I assumed that until they opened their mouth and decided to interrupt my peace.

"What the hell is your problem?" Wood asked me, looking seriously annoyed, "We were fine, finally being civil and all of a sudden you are flat out ignoring me and glaring at me. Would you make up your fucking mind?!"

I glared at him, "Oh I'm sorry, I figured I was too 'disgusting' to be in your godly presence! Merlin's beard you are such a fucking hypocrite coming and yelling at me for not being civil to you! You're the one who started it!"

"Started it? How the hell did I start it? And why would you be too disgusting to be in my presence?!"

"I don't know, you're the one who fucking said it!"

His entire body tensed as I watched realization dawn on him, "I never said that…"

"Don't fucking lie to me," I snarled, "I am so fucking sick of people lying to me. I heard you talking to Tiffany earlier."

"She was angry and I was trying to shut her up! I don't think you're disgusting, I just say stupid shit sometimes! Especially when it shuts her up."

"Sure…" I said, not really sure what to believe, but still not happy.

"Do I need to prove it?" he asked, and I looked at him confused, unsure of what he meant by that.

He took a step closer to me, "Do I need to prove that I don't think you're disguising…in fact…I think the opposite…"

I stood, frozen and completely confused by where this was going. My confusion was short lived, however, when he showed me what he meant by grabbing my face and kissing me hard.

* * *

**Hey All! Here is the new chapter! Please leave a comment and tell me what you think! I love seeing comments, getting those and kudos make me want to update faster! So, tell me who your favorite character is?**

**Thanks! :)**


	15. Of Apparation Lessons and Boils

I stood frozen in shock; unsure of what was going on, why he was kissing me. Within a few seconds I was kissing him back, my hands making their way around his neck as he backed me against the wall. He moved one hand to my hair and the other gripped my hip, his tongue moving against my bottom lip asking for entrance. Our tongues battled for dominance, when suddenly the portrait door opened.

Oliver and I jumped apart, trying to act causal watching as a 7th year Ravenclaw I recognized leaving with Jordan a 7th year Gryffindor. They were giggling and made their way towards the Ravenclaw common room, not even noticing us.

"I still hate you," I said, glaring at him, "This doesn't mean I have any sort of feelings for you."

"Good, cause I don't like you either," he replied, smirking at me (he looked a little too proud of himself for my liking…bastard).

I rolled my eyes, "Let's just get back to the party, your slag is probably waiting for you."

He nodded, still smirking, and we casually walked towards the common room, and as I tried to get the familiar feeling of his lips on mine out of my head. I honestly didn't even know why I had kissed him back, but I couldn't bring myself to regret it (what? He's a good kisser…). As we walked back into the common room Alicia came up to us, more than a little drunk.

"Where were you two?!" she asked, looking slightly suspicious.

"I was just talking to Talli about that little stunt she pulled earlier in the game today; and how a stunt like that will not be tolerated while I am her captian," Oliver lied smoothly.

Alicia, in her drunken state, accepted this answer, "Well, come dance with me Talli-Walli!"

I cringed at the nickname as she grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the dance floor, laughing and giggling as we danced.

"We need to get you laid Tal," she said, grinning at me mischievously.

"I think I'm good," I said, laughing, "You are very drunk."

"Only a little," she said giggling, "Have you seen Alex? I could use to get laid too."

"He's over by the drinks?" I said, rolling my eyes at her bluntness, "You are a piece of work Alicia Spinnet!"

"You know you love me babe!" she said, making her way towards Alex, throwing me a wink over her shoulder.

I looked around for any of my other friends and saw Katie and George dancing happily, staring lovingly into each other's eyes. I saw Fred and Terri were awkwardly standing in a corner, Terri still clearly annoyed that he had paid more attention to Angelina earlier. Angelina was on the dance floor dancing with another fellow 6th year named Mitch, smiling and laughing. Something Fred did not seem very happy about. I used all of my self-control not to squeal in joy. I looked at Lee and Joy dancing happily with genuine smiles on their faces, something that was a rarity, I had noticed that they were becoming more and more fake recently. I found myself unintentionally looking for Wood, who I found sitting on the couch making out with Tiffany.

I rolled my eyes, and looked around the room my eyes spotting the youngest Weasly child. Ginny was shyly standing the corner with one of her friends I barely recognized and she kept glancing towards Ron and one Harry Potter. I felt myself chuckle lightly at her infatuation; he was all she could talk about last summer.

I made my way over to the girl I considered my younger sister, smiling at her.

"You are still infatuated with him?" I asked, grinning at her as she blushed scarlet.

"I can't help it…I mean…he's Harry Potter…" she said with a dreamy look on her face, while her friend nodded along, "You played a great game today, though you really scared me."

"Thanks Gin," I said, "Why don't you and talk to him?"

"I couldn't possibly!" she said, giving me a wide-eyed look.

"Why not?"

"Because she can't talk to him, literally, she gets all nervous and starts stuttering…" her friend answered for her, laughing a little while Ginny glared at her.

"It'll get easier with time, don't worry," I said, giving her an encouraging smile, remembering when I was afraid of talking to any boy that was not Fred, George, Lee or Wood.

"I hope so…" muttered a bright red Ginny.

"On that note, what are you even doing here, you better not be drinking!" I said, giving her my best stern big sister look.

"No…I just heard that Harry was going to be here and…"

I laughed, "Alright, well, I will leave you here to continue admiring Harry…"

I walked away, leaving a blushing Ginny behind me. I thought about going over to say hi to Ron, but he and Harry seemed to be giving themselves a pep talk to go and talk to two of the 4th year girls. I chuckled to myself, getting a weird look from the 5th year standing close to me, and continued on my way spotting Steven. He was one of the other 6th year boys and he was looking extremely uncomfortable. Steven was Katie's other half in her Prefect duties, and the easiest way to describe him was a younger version of Percy, though maybe not as intense. He would be Head Boy next year for sure. I made my way over towards him, curious to hear how he got bribed to be here, knowing that parties made him uncomfortable.

"Hey Steven!" I said giving him a smile.

"Hi Talli," he said politely, eyeing me closely, "Are you drunk?"

I gave him a funny look, "No…"

He gave a sigh of relief, "The amount of drunk people that have come over here to talk with me is ridiculous. Alex and Fred even attempted to get me to dance on the table…"

I snorted at that, "How on earth did I miss that?"

"I'm not really sure, they tried to get the common room to chant for it though."

"Oh wow…yeah they are a little crazy. So what did they do to convince you to come? I know you hate these types of things…"

"They hid my homework…not that I was going to do it tonight, but I do need to get it done tomorrow and they said the only way to get it back was if I came to the party for a half an hour…" he said, laughing a little.

"How much longer are you stuck here?" I asked.

"Oh, my half an hour finished like an hour ago, I'm just enjoying people watching now, just as long as they don't talk to me…"

"Oh yeah? What have you seen?"

"Well, other than Fred and Alex trying to get me to dance, there was the whole thing when Becky Jameson started getting up onto the table to dance, her boyfriend wasn't to happy about that…so naturally they got into a screaming fight in the middle of the dance floor, which their friends had to split up."

"Wait seriously?"

"Yeah…you mean you missed it?" he said, giving me a funny look.

"Apparently…"I said, I hadn't realized Wood and I were in the hallway that long.

"I thought you of all people would have seen that, I mean, you were considered the star player of todays match…"

"It was a team effort…"I said, feeling a little embarrassed, "I must have missed it…I went into the corridor to get a little air…"

He gave me an understanding look, and then cracked a grin, "looks like Janice is getting on the table now…"

"Oh this is guaranteed to be good," I said, remembering the last time the 7th year Ravenclaw got drunk and danced on the table she ended up singing terribly, it really was quite hysterical.

One of her Gryffindor friends, Annabel got up on the table with her and they stood dancing like lunatics. It really was hysterical until some of the guys started yelling at them to take their clothes off. Annabel looked like she was about to do it, but their friend Carly saved them from the embarrassment by ushering them off the table.

"On that note, I think it's time for bed," I said with a small laugh.

"I definitely agree, that's enough excitement for me!" he said, chuckling.

I walked towards the dorm, wondering why I haven't talked to Steven more.

Monday morning started the next few weeks of Quidditch hell. We practiced from 6am to 7:15am, giving us only time to quickly shower and eat before going to class. It wasn't fun especially when we had another practice from 7pm to 9:30pm; it was absolutely brutal; I don't think I have ever been so exhausted. Especially with all the work that we have been assigned in all of our classes. The highlight of the week was that the 6th years got the announcement that Apparation training was starting this weekend, and I couldn't be more excited.

The idea that you can go from place to place on my own in a matter of seconds really excited me, especially knowing I would be lonely this summer. The ability to apparate to my friends houses on will helped make the idea of summer sound a little better.

My good mood did not last long as long as I had hoped though. Quidditch practice that night was particularly terrible, and since none of us seemed to be able to even fly straight I knew we were in for a long-winded talk from Wood.

"On the ground!" he yelled when 9:30 rolled around, "And start running, I want 5 laps!"

I groaned loudly, and muttered under my breath, "You have got to be shitting me."

I must have said it louder than I thought because he turned to me, glaring, and said, "What was that Prince?"

"You heard me Wood," I practically growled, "Can't we just go in? We are obviously exhausted and I have homework to do."

I knew I shouldn't have said, and I knew I was going to regret it, but I just couldn't help it. I was annoyed, angry, and I just wanted to get some sleep.

"She's right Oliver…" Alicia said, while the others looked around nervously.

They were smart; Alicia and I were in for it.

"Well, you two can run an extra two laps then," he said, glaring at us (I swear he has been on his man period…)

"Are you serious? Oliver you are being too hard and you know it," Alicia dared, and I gave her serious props, he was not happy.

"I suggest you start running before I add to your lap amount," he said, glaring as we all started running.

By the time Alicia and I finished we were dying; we walked to the locker room, exhausted, an angry Wood behind us. We showered quickly before making our way to the common room to start our homework. We found the others sitting in chairs by the fireplace and we went and grabbed our bags before heading down and joining them.

"This Charms essay is going to be killer," I muttered, taking out my book and notes.

"I thought it was pretty easy once I got started," Katie said, working on her Arithmancy homework, "Why is this so hard?!"

"Here, let me look at it," Angelina said, as Katie passed her the scroll, "Oh, this is simple!"

"Simple?!" Katie said, looking at her in shock, "You aren't even in the class…"

"I'm good at math…" Angelina said with a shrug, "That's what happens when your father is a Mathematician."

"I never understood why you took Divination instead of something like Arithmancy! You are so smart!" Katie said.

"They bore me…Divination on the other hand is always entertaining," said Angelina laughing, before launching into an explanation of Katie's homework, which I tuned out (naturally).

I was the last one of our group sitting in the common room when 12:30 rolled around. I was just finishing that damn Charms essay. Katie definitely lied to me…it was not easy at all. The only other person in the common room was none other than Oliver Wood.

I glanced up to find him staring at me, before he made his way over to me.

"You really need to learn to not talk back to me at practice," he said, and I had a feeling that I knew where this was going.

"Well, you need to learn to not be an ass…" I muttered, moving my face slightly closer to his, smirking at him.

He rolled his eyes before closing the distance between us. The kiss was heated, both of us pouring all of our stress and anger into it (which, between the two of us, we had plenty of both). I tugged on his hair and he moaned into the kiss. We pulled apart briefly and re-adjusted our position so that he was sitting on the chair and I was straddling him. We re-connected our lips as the moved in sync, his hands drawing circles on my hips before slowly moving up my shirt. Just then the portrait swung open and we jumped apart, mentally cursing who ever it was. I re-adjusted my shirt, and started gathering my stuff.

"Thanks for helping me with my essay," I said, as the two 4th years walked in looking flushed.

They looked too embarrassed to notice that we clearly were not working on my essay, but I still fled the room quickly, leaving a chuckling Oliver Wood behind me. I spent the entire way up to my dorm cursing the 4th years, that was twice in a row we had gotten cock-blocked and I was much more disappointed than I should have been.

Saturday came quickly and I couldn't help but feel both excited and nervous for the Apparation lesson. We walked into the Great Hall a few minutes early to find that it had been filled with hula-hoops and a short, balding man was standing the Great Hall, using his wand as a megaphone.

"Alright everyone, go stand by a hoop and wait for farther instruction!" he said, his voice echoing.

We all found hoops by each other and shared excited glances, ready to start. I looked around the room at all of the other 6th years, we had a group of Ravenclaws standing near us, luckily Allan was not one of them, and they were all talking about what they had read on the subject. On the other side were two of the Slytherin girls I didn't know much about, they were looking a little nervous, but trying not to show it. One even offered me a small smile, which I tried to return. Behind us were a group of Hufflepuffs who were talking excitedly amongst themselves, I spotted Rae, Hannah and Cedric among them and waved happily.

By the end of the lesson I was much more tired than I had anticipated, but luckily I didn't splinch like George, who lost an ear. Thankfully the Ministry Officials knew what they were doing and quickly fixed it up, naturally George spent the entire time making awful ear jokes, while Fred tried to make better ones, and it turned into a mini competition. Katie and Angelina were both able to apparate successfully into their hoops, something only about 15 kids managed to do. One Slytherin boy ended up apparating into Hogsmeade, and when they got him back he swore he meant to do it on purpose.

All in all I was excited for the practice next week and was determined to be able to apparate into my hoop by then.

"Guys, we need something to do!" Alicia whined.

"How about dropping water balloons at unsuspecting people?" Fred suggested.

"It's too cold for that!" Angelina said, "When it's warmer."

"That's the point Ang," Fred said, rolling his, but grinning.

"Well, I think it's a little too mean…" to which Fred grumbled something about having morals…

"We could play hide and seek!" Lee said excitedly, ignoring the twos bickering.

"Isn't that a kids game?" Alicia said laughing.

"So?" Lee said, sticking his tongue out at her (really mature), "It's fun!"

"I think it sounds like fun!" I said, "Besides, that's the best idea we've had."

"I take offense to that!" Fred said.

"Good, you were meant to."

"Alright, let's do it," Angelina said, "you can be it Lee, since it was your idea!"

"Alright, you need to stay on this floor!" he said, "I'll count to 50! Starting NOW!"

We all took off sprinting in different directions, looking randomly for places to hide. I saw an unused classroom and instantly ran to the door, unlocking it, and sliding in as I heard Lee's voice down the hall, "39! 40! 41! 42!"

I quickly dove under the desk and smirked, thinking that my hiding place was pretty good. Hoping he would think that the re-locked classroom would be too obvious. I heard him yell 50 and sprint down the hallway, passing right passed the door to the classroom.

I sat there for about five minutes in absolute silence when I heard a scream sound through the hallway. Instantly I got up and ran towards the noise, hoping that nothing was seriously wrong. I saw a confused Lee and Alicia running down the corridor as well, and we shared confused glances before continuing to sprint.

About a minute later we came to a halt, Fred and George were helping a very dazed Katie up off the old stone ground. She had hair growing out of her nose and her ears and it really was not a pretty sight…

"What the hell happened?" Alicia asked, looking slightly confused.

"Fucking Slytherins…" said George, his face getting red with anger.

"We need to get her to the Hospital Wing," I said, as her eyebrows started getting bushy and she started growing a full on beard (complete with a mustache).

George helped her up and we made our way towards the Hospital Wing, thankfully not passing anyone in the corridor on the way.

"They attacked me from behind…" Katie said, "I didn't even have time to react before they hexed me and disappeared."

"We'll get them back," George promised, "In fact, I think they might enjoy some sweets…"

"I like the way you think…" Fred said, wearing his signature smirk, "But who to send them to? Did you see who attacked you?"

"No…" Katie said miserably.

"Well, I saw Nott running down the hallway, so I'd place my money on the Slytherin Quidditch team," George said.

"Those ass holes…" I said, "Send them the boils."

"That is exactly what I was thinking," Lee said, and Alicia nodded in agreement.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Fred said, the mischief visible in his eyes.

We were only in the Hospital Wing for a about a half an hour before Katie was released, thankfully it was a quick fix (whoever had cast the hex had not done a very good job). The second we got back from the Hospital Wing we put our plan into motion, gathering a bunch of the twins' creations and got them ready to fly out in the morning. All of us wearing satisfied smiles when we went to bed that night, and for once, we were all excited to get to breakfast on Sunday morning.

The next morning at breakfast our plan fell into place and the Slytherins ate the candy unsuspectingly (seriously…didn't they learn?). We watched as they started sprouting painful looking boils all over their faces, all of them wondering what was going on. It didn't take long for them to look over and see us laughing, but we all knew that they couldn't prove that we did it, just like we (unfortunately) couldn't prove that they had hexed Katie.

I watched giggling as they all scampered out of the Great Hall and towards the Hospital Wing, unfortunately for them the only way to get rid of them was by popping them, cue evil laughter…internally of course…the school already thinks I'm weird enough.

After breakfast we gathered in the common room and attempted to do as much homework as possible, knowing that this week was going to be hell with Quidditch practice. Heaven forbid we have the Cup in a month…

About three essays later and we were the only ones sitting in the common room, everyone else found something much more entertaining to do (lucky little shits). I was surprised when the portrait door opened and Percy walked in. He was very rarely in here, seeing as the Head Boy shared a common room with the Head Girl.

"Hey Percy," I said, smiling at him, needing a distraction from all of the work.

"Hey Talli," he said smiling brightly (a little too brightly if you asked me…looked a tad bit creepy).

"What put you in a good mood?" I asked, normally he is seen with more of a scowl on his face.

"I just got the weekend of March 5th approved for a Hogsmeade trip. Penny really wanted to go, and it's our one year that weekend so I am working on planning the perfect day."

"Of course, because you are perfect Percy," Fred said, smirking at his brother, who promptly ignored him.

"I hear you have been having a lot of Quidditch practices," he said, "Are we going to beat the Slytherins?"

"Of course, we wouldn't let them win," I informed him.

"And what was with the stunt this morning?" he asked, giving us knowing looks.

We should have known that Percy would know it was us, I mean he knew what the twins did. In fact, he was often the butt of the joke (no wonder he scowled all the time). So he was very familiar with their products.

"They hexed Katie in the corridors," George said, giving his brother a look that dared him to get us in trouble.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright Katie," Percy said, deciding against lecturing us (though, honestly, I don't think he was going to-he was in too good of a mood), "Well, I best be off, I promised Penny that I would meet her back in the common room for dinner."

"Bye Percy!" we said in a freaky unison.

After he left the common room Fred turned to us and said, "So, do you think that they are fucking?"

I'm sure I looked like a gapping fish (though I should have known to expect it from him), "WHAT?"

"Percy and Penelope," he said, smirking at me, "I mean, they are the only two in the room…and they're dating."

"I'd rather not think about that!" I cried, looking slightly disgusted while Fred laughed hysterically.

"What don't you want to think about?" Wood asked, he and his friend Carter coming over and sitting by us.

"Percy having sex," I told him, making a face of pure disgust.

"Oh they are definitely having sex!" Carter said, "You should have heard him when he was planning their first time…"

"It had to be absolutely perfect…he went all out with rose petals and everything!" Wood added, laughing.

I hit my head to the desk and everyone laughed at me. There were some things in life I did not need to know, and Percy having sex was one of them.

"You guys are awful…" Katie said, shaking her head, but smiling.

"But you love it!" George said, winking at her.

"What are you guys up too?" Carter said (clearly missing all of the books on the table)

"Homework?" Alicia said, giving him a funny look.

He looked down and noticed all of the books and blushed slightly, "I knew that…"

"Sure ya did man…" Wood said, laughing and we all joined in.

We spent the rest of the time before dinner ignoring our homework and playing exploding snap. Shockingly Wood and I managed to get along the entire time and I managed to fight the urge to make out with him then and there. Overall, it was a pretty successful day.


	16. Of Explosions and War

We were all sitting near the windows Wednesday night, enjoying our one Quidditch free evening of the week. We were swapping embarrassing stories, and laughing, because who doesn't enjoy laughing at their friends' embarrassment?

"Okay, I have a good one!" Alicia said, a look of glee coming over her face, "Once when we were fifteen I dared-"

"Don't you dare…" Oliver said, his eyes going wide before he started glaring at her, which of course made us all that much more curious to hear what she had to say.

"-Oliver to streak through my house," Alicia continued as Oliver shook his head, "So naturally he did, but my Grandparents were sitting in the living room with my parents. Needless to say, they saw a lot more than they should have…"

"You're Grandma still can't look me in the eyes…" Oliver muttered, "I thought she was going to pop a blood vessel."

"I ended up getting a lecture from my Grandmother about how I chose my friends," Alicia laughed fondly at the memory.

"I thought your parents were going to hate me…"

"You are their son, they thought the entire situation was hysterical…well afterwards…"

"I am the favorite child…" he said smirking at her.

"The sad thing is, that just may be true…" Alicia said laughing.

I smiled a little at their interaction, I watched as Oliver smiled a genuine smile. I couldn't help a part of me that was wishing that I was the one making him smile. I could feel my entire body freeze up when I came to that conclusion. No. I don't like him. I can't. This…thing...is purely physical. Just like what we agreed to a few weeks ago. No feelings (other than hate) involved. I just like him as a friend…sometimes…he can be tolerable.

"Talli?" Katie said, looking at me funny, "Are you okay?"

I realized that my entire body had stayed tense during my inner monologue, "Yeah, I was just thinking of a story. Like the one time that George, Fred and I decided to sneak a few butter beers and a little fire whiskey. George got so excited that he tripped and fell down the stairs, losing the fire whiskey. I have never seen Momma Weasly so red."

"In my defense, we were 12…" George said blushing bright red.

Katie was practically on the ground she was laughing so hard.

"Well, what about that one time that you decided to color your walls with crayon?"

"Most little kids do that," Oliver said, laughing.

"Not when they're 13," George said laughing, smirking at me in victory while I just shook my head.

"My walls were pink and purple, and my parents refused to let me paint it, so I drew on the walls."

"Naturally, because that's what everyone logically thinks to do…" Oliver said, laughing at me.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time…" I said, laughing.

"Why would that seem like a good idea?" he said, giving me a look that clearly said 'really?'

"I figured if I colored my walls with permanent marker they would be forced to repaint my room anyways…" I said with a shrug, "George left out the little bit about it working, my room was painted white after that. I think they thought it would be a punishment, but in reality I was happy, anything was better than pink and purple…"

"When I was on the train ride here I thought I wanted to be a Slytherin because they were supposed to be ambitious and cunning…" Angelina said with a laugh.

"It's alright, I thought that I was for sure going to end up in Hufflepuff!" Lee said.

"Look at us now…" Katie said laughing, "I'm glad that we were all sorted into Gryffindor."

"Don't get mushy on my Katie!" Alicia said with a laugh.

"I just really love you guys, okay?"

"And we love you!" Angelina said.

"GROUP HUG!" Fred shouted and we all ended up piled on top of each other, Oliver discreetly touching my ass.

Everyone else in the common room looked at us funny, but decided to ignore it. I think that they had just learned to accept it at this point. Even the first years knew we were weird at this point. I guess it was just kind of normal for us, and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

The next morning, I started on the completely wrong foot. I woke up with a half an hour to get ready for practice and be at the pitch. It didn't help that it was 4:30 in the morning, and that we had practice until 6:15. We all literally threw on the closest pair of clothes, pulled our hair back, brushed our teeth and raced to the pitch, arriving just on time, huffing and puffing. Cause let me tell you, the pitch is much farther from the pitch than one would think.

Practice was a pain in the ass because we practiced the same plays on repeat, the only good thing was being up in the air. I had started to do random flips when diving just to change it up a little when Oliver called us down to the ground at 6 to have the final meeting before we were done with the morning practice.

"I want everyone at the Pitch tonight at 7, anyone late will have to run 5 laps," he said, almost daring one of us to be late, "After practice we are going to do some strategizing for the game in a few weeks. I want to try and learn some new plays to throw them off of their game. You are all free to go though, you had a good practice."

We all walked quietly back to the castle, all too tired to talk. I was starting to feel slightly more awake after my shower, as I changed into my uniform, pulling on my teal lace underwear and bra because I needed something to improve this day a little (and who doesn't feel better when they put on cute underwear?). We all made our way towards breakfast, all desperately craving food. Katie instantly went to for the coffee, Fred and George went for the tea, I went for the waffles, Alicia and Oliver went for the pancakes and Lee and Angelina kept it simple going with toast and jam.

Terri and Joy joined us half way through our meal, just quietly sitting next to their boyfriends, and eating their food, both too tired to really talk (though, in my opinion they can't really talk because they got to sleep in later than us…but whatever…). Tiffany on the other hand strutted over here like she owned the place. She came and sat directly on Oliver's lap, who was sitting right next to me. I felt my stomach sink a little, but played it off as being disgusted by her presence. I mean, I felt like I was being suffocated by her perfume. I don't think I would ever understand how Oliver was able to put up with her for so long, even if they were sleeping together.

"Ollie! (cue me and half of the table cringing-it was way too early to deal with this) I haven't seen you in what feels like days!" she wailed dramatically, (yep, it was definitely too early for this), "Where have you been?"

"Sorry, I've been a little busy with Quidditch and all…" he responded, which is partially true…(cue me inwardly smirking).

"We haven't had sex in weeks…please tell me you are free sometime today," she said seductively (at least I think it was supposed to be seductive, I just heard desperation…).

"Can you please do this where people aren't trying to eat?" I said, gagging slightly, still ignoring the feeling in my stomach that most people would consider jealousy.

She ignored me, but thankfully it was late enough that I could leave for Potions. Never once had that sounded as good as it did in that moment. When we arrived in Potions Snape was already angrily sitting at his desk, glaring because we were on time. I tell ya, that man just really hates life. I will never understand why he teaches when he hates everyone…but whatever.

I sat down next to a smirking Nott, but I decided to ignore and simply made a mental note to not let him touch the potion today. The second the bell rang through out the castle Snape was on his feet explaining the potion that we would be making during the day. When he was done the scraping of chairs could be heard through out the room as we got up to get our ingredients.

When I sat back down and set down the ingredients on the table in front of me Nott turned to me and said, "That prank that you and your stupid friends played was not appreciated, you should have known that winning that match was a bad idea, now you and your little team are just going to embarrass yourselves when we beat you."

"Well, we don't really appreciate you hexing our friend, and as for the loosing, I wouldn't count on it. That would involve actually being able to play the game and not just having players who bought their way onto the team."

He glared at me, but said nothing, and I started the potion, only giving him small tasks. I watched as the clock ticked and as our (my) potion was turning the correct color until it was finally time to add the last ingredient. I got ready to dump the chopped up roots in slowly, like instructed, when out of the corner of my eye I saw Nott coming and knocking all of them in at once. Our (my) potion started bubbling and then exploded. All over me. I instantly felt the burning sensation I let out a screech.

"Pay back's a bitch," I hear Nott growl, as he pretended to look concerned.

I tried to blindly reach for my wand to get the potion off, when I instantly felt the potion magically be removed. My entire face was stinging and I could feel my eyes watering.

"Someone take Miss Prince to the Hospital Wing," he said in his monotone voice, completely ignoring the fact that Nott had blown up the potion.

"I've got it," Fred said, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the room.

The walk to the Hospital Wing was a long one; I was trying not to cry as I thought my entire body was on fire. I was thankful for Fred though, he didn't ask me if I was okay, he already knew the answer.

"I already have the perfect pay back," he informed me, "Tell the girls that after practice we are doing some sneaking. I have been waiting for the perfect time to do this, and now seems like the perfect time."

"Okay…" I told him, feeling excited knowing that whatever Fred had planned was going to be good.

That was all we said to each other and when we arrived to the Hospital Wing Madam Pomfrey instantly sat me onto a bed and went to get me an ointment for my face. Not before telling Fred to leave of course.

I spent the rest of the evening in the Hospital Wing, waiting for all of the burns to heal, but thankfully I got out just in time for practice, though my face still looked a little burned and I was still feeling sore.

The feeling sore part made practice harder than normal, though Oliver didn't comment on my performance, thankfully. That didn't mean he made practice easier for me though, which I was thankful for. If I wanted to go pro I would need to be able to play and practice through pain.

After practice and strategizing we went up to work on our homework and when the twins said that their common room was cleared all of us (minus Oliver) got ready for our pay back on the Slytherins (changing everything thing in their common room to Gryffindor colors). The girls and I decided to go all out, dressing in all black and putting lines of black eye liner on our cheeks. The boys laughed at us when we came down the stairs, all of us acting cool, rolling and diving. We quietly followed the twins, who had the map out and made our way towards their common room, still pretending to be ninjas.

Once we reached the common room Fred whispered the password ('honor'…I mean really? At least try to be a bit more creative). We made our way in, smirking, and started quietly dying everything red and gold. It took us almost an hour to make it look exactly like we wanted it to; we even managed to make the suit of armor roar every hour, on the hour (well, hopefully, we wanted to get out before it happened the first time). We finished about 2:58 and waited outside of the common room to see if we could hear the suit of armor roar.

Sure enough at 3 o'clock the suit roared and a string of curses could be heard. That was when we made our break for it, sprinting down the hallway to avoid being caught.

The next morning after practice we made our way towards the Great Hall, all way to slap happy and sleep deprived to even focus on how tired we were. All the Slytherins looked angry and tired, having been woken up every hour for the last four hours. No doubt some of them longer than others as they tried to and stop the damn thing from roaring. If we hadn't been sleep deprived maybe we would have noticed the somber looks on everyone else's faces but we were all going on two hours of sleep. Since we didn't notice everyone's looks we all opened our copies of the Prophet unsuspectingly. I looked at mine and the front page read:

The Ministry Wants War

There have been many rumors flying around about the Minister holding information from the public. Saying that he just wants start searching surrounding countries for Sirius Black. Other countries have publicly declared that the have not been hiding Sirius Black, and to send people to look would be considered an act of war. An act to which we are sure they would retaliate.

The other countries being accused claim that the Ministry is hiding Black, and are staging all of the disappearances and deaths, trying to make it seem like the potential war is their fault.

The ultimate question now is: What will Fudge do?

Regardless, the Office of Defense will be sending owls out to families with safety precautions that everyone is encouraged to follow. If you ask me, all signs are pointing to war, and it's best we all prepare ourselves.

We all sat there in shock. While we had seen it coming, it was a completely different story when it was actually happening. I took another glance around the Great Hall, and everyone looked somber and many were in very deep discussion. Dumbledore was sitting at the Head Table looking like he was in a very deep conversation with Professor McGonagall, both looking very nervous.

"I can't say I was expecting that…" Angelina said, "I mean, I knew it was coming, I knew they were talking about it but I guess I just thought that…I don't know…"

We all nodded in agreement. It was a lot to take in, and I wasn't sure how to respond to it. Though I suppose nobody did. We knew that we needed to find Black, but was it worth starting a war over something unknown? We all walked to class quietly, all thinking about what we read. Even Nott wasn't his usual horrible self in Potions-though admittedly he did not look very concerned. After Care of Magical creatures we had one more quick practice before the Slytherins' practice that evening.

After that us girls decided that we needed to relax and have a girls night, complete with swimming in the Prefect bathroom. We all quickly put on our suits and made our way towards the bathroom. When we arrived we turned on the taps to lavender and all got in, lazily swimming around, enjoying the warm water relaxing our sore muscles. Alicia even went as far as to moaned in relaxation.

"Why do we not do this every weekend?" Angelina asked.

"It would take away some of the fun," Katie (smart ass) said, winking.

Angelina responded saying, "I highly doubt that," and we all laughed.

"Did you get all the treats from the kitchens earlier?" I asked Alicia.

"Of course, we have an entire chocolate cake with our names on it back in the room. Along with some sugar cookies," she said, grinning in victory.

"Well, that can be our motivation to leave…later…" I responded, not ready to leave the relaxing warmth that was the bathtub.

We continued to lazily swim around the pool for about another half an hour before we decided that someone else was bound to come in soon, and since we were technically not supposed to be here we thought it would be best that we leave.

Once we were back in the dorm we changed out of our suits and all climbed onto Alicia's bed, pulling out our stash of sweets and magazines.

While we all grabbed forks and dug into the cake Katie blushed and looked at all of us, looking a little nervous.

"Do you think it's too soon to sleep with George?" she asked, "I mean, we've only been together a few months…but I really, really like him…and it sort of feels right?"

"Then go for it," was Alicia's reply, "Have you talked with him about it?"

"Not yet," she said, "I mean we've done…other stuff (cue Katie turning scarlet), but I wanted to make sure I wasn't being a stupid teenage girl."

"Do you think you're ready?" Angelina asked, looking at her quizzically, "Cause if you don't think you're ready you need to wait."

"No!" she said, "I'm definitely ready…just nervous is all…but I think that's normal."

"I was…" Angelina said, "In fact, I probably wasn't ready and look where it got me…"

She was referring to the crying mess she had been when her boyfriend of 6 months dumped her right after they had slept together. Her 15-year-old self had thought they were in love, and had thought that that it would make him love her more. She was devastated when he ended up leaving and at the time completely regretted sleeping with him. I think she came to terms with it over the past year or so and had decided to learn from it and move on.

"I was a little nervous," I replied, "But Chris definitely helped calm my nervous…"

"I wasn't that nervous…" Alicia said…"Remember my first time?"

"We choose not too…" Angelina said laughing.

"I mean it was the epitome of class…in a broom closet and all…" I teased, causing us all to burst into a fit of giggles.

After that conversation we proceeded to eat most of the cake until we were all supporting food babies and reaching the point in the magazines where the quizzes are.

"Which Quidditch player would be your perfect man?" I asked out loud, giggling as I started taking it.

"Ohhh, that's a good one, I have 'What is your perfect spring color?'" Katie laughed.

As I calculated my results I let out a squeal of delight, "I'M MARRYING VIKTOR KRUM! FUCK YEAH!"

Angelina, who had been so absorbed in her magazine, fell off the bed in shock causing all of us to laugh.

It was the simple nights like these that I was so grateful for my friends, and I honestly had no idea how I would survive without any of them.


	17. Of Breakdowns and (Not) Jealousy

I woke up the next morning exhausted, I spent the entire night tossing and turning, and thinking way too much. My thoughts were on the war and my mother; I was wondering where she was, if she was alive, and if I would ever see her again. I could feel the tears fill my eyes, instantly feeling overwhelmed. The reality of the situation dawning on me, I was alone. While all of my friends went home to their families over the summer I wouldn't have anywhere to go. I knew that I could go to the Weasly's, but that wasn't home, not really. They had plenty of other things to worry about; they didn't need to worry about me. And the idea that my mother would turn up was becoming more and more unlikely each day. It had been three months since she was considered missing and I wasn't naïve enough to think that was a good thing. The Ministry considered her as good as dead, and with all of the other people missing, none of whom had been found, I knew chances were slim; even more so now with the potential war happening. They claimed that they needed to use everyone for defense; just in case we were attacked (I wanted to respond saying that we wouldn't need to worry about that if the Minister hadn't opened his big mouth…) I had always had a feeling that they would stop, but the letter that was sitting in my nightstand drawer confirmed it. The idea that people were still looking for her had been my last little light of hope that I would see her again.

I let out a small sob, the tears falling freely as reality set in. I cuddled deeper into my covers, not wanting to wake the girls up. I could feel my entire body shaking and I felt sick, all of my emotions coming forward. I curled up into a ball, and continued to cry, because that was all I could do. I couldn't help my mother, I couldn't find her, much less know if she was still alive.

I felt someone crawl into my bed, arms instantly coming to cuddle me. I looked over to see Katie's somber face, as she pulled me closer, just letting me cry.

"Shhhh," she said, "You'll be alright…"

I continued to cry, while she continued to stroke my hair, trying to calm me down. Thankfully she didn't try to talk to me, because I didn't think that my voice would work.

After I calmed down a little she gave me a squeeze and whispered, "I need to get ready, I can tell the Professors that you aren't feeling well?"

"Thanks," I choked out, as she crawled out of bed to get ready.

I could hear the other girls getting ready, and I heard Katie tell the other girls that I wasn't feeling well, while I buried myself deeper into my cocoon of blankets. I could still feel myself shaking, but I was pretty sure that I had no more tears left to cry. I heard all the girls leave for breakfast and class and I crawled out of bed and into the bathroom, where the bathtub was calling my name. I was hoping it would be able to calm me down. Once I was sitting in the warm water I felt the tears start again. I tried to blink them away, because I knew that tears weren't going to help the situation, but I couldn't help it.

Once I decided the bath wasn't helping as much as I hoped, I decided for comfy clothes and my bed. I pulled on my leggings and a giant sweatshirt (I'm pretty sure it was Fred's), before I crawled back into bed and tried to sleep. Fifteen minutes later I was trying to decide if I would be better off in class where I could be distracted, but I just couldn't drag myself out of bed.

I heard our room door open, and two sets of footsteps. I didn't need to look up to know that it was the twins. I felt the bed sink down on either side of me, but I refused to take my head out of the covers to look at them, because I knew I would loose it again.

"We brought you a bagel," said Fred, "We figured you should eat."

"I'm not hungry…" I mumbled, not really in the mood too talk.

"Please Tal, just try it at least," George said, "We managed to convince the house elves to give us some nutella…"

I waited a minute, before slowly poking my head out of the covers, looking at their concerned faces. George handed me the bagel, and I slowly nibbled at it, still not sure that I wouldn't be sick.

"Do you want to talk about it?" George asked, after a few minutes of silence.

"No," I said simply, hoping that they would leave it at that.

"Tal, you can't keep it in, Katie just told us that you were having a rough morning, and we can't help if you don't let us in…" Fred said, giving me a worried look.

"Careful Fred, you might get worry lines…" I joked weakly, but neither of them seemed amused, "I really don't want to talk…besides, I'm fine…I just wasn't feeling to well, that time of the month and all."

"That might work on some people Talli, but we've known you since birth, please just talk to us, let us help you."

"That's the thing, you can't. And the people that can, won't." I said, almost growling at the end of the sentence.

"What do you mean?" George said, after he and Fred exchanged confused glances.

"She's gone…" I said, in a broken voice, and I couldn't stop the floodgates from opening, "It's been three months...and they're just giving up…"

I could see the understanding flash through their eyes, and I watched as their faces fell.

"Did they…" George started, but he couldn't finish the sentence.

"They sent me a letter yesterday…they're just giving up, marking her another tragedy of the impending war…" I said as each word cut me deeper.

I watched the emotions play on the boys' faces, and I knew that if anyone could come close to feeling what I was feeling it was them. She was family to them too. Luckily for them, they still had family left.

"I'm alone…" I sobbed, "I…"

I could no longer stop myself; I was shaking, sobbing and panicking. What was I going to do? I sobbed harder, and kept trying to think of something that I could do, something that wouldn't be entirely awful. So far I was coming up short.

"You aren't alone Talli, you are never alone," Fred said firmly, "You may not have the red hair and the freckles, but you are family."

"I know, but where am I going to go? What am I going to do?"

"What part of family do you not understand?" George said, "You'll come home with us of course. I thought you already knew that."

"I couldn't possibly…"

"We aren't asking Talli." Fred said, giving me a look.

I could feel myself calming down a little as his words sank in.

"I love you guys," I said, smiling a little, "Thank you."

"What are brothers for, right?" they said, grinning at me, "We love you too Tals."

* * *

 

The rest of the week went by much smoother than Monday. Once the boys had left I had stayed in bed for the rest of the day, keeping the claim to being sick. When the girls came back they all climbed into my bed and hugged me, no one asked what was wrong, and I'm sure Fred and George filled them in. I was just happy that I didn't need to talk about it.

I was dragging my feet to my last class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Don't get me wrong, it is easily my favorite class, but I had a three-hour Quidditch practice to attend right after it, and not to mention the mountain of homework that I needed to do. I was just thankful that tomorrow was Friday; I was ready for the weekend and a break. It helped that it was a Hogsmeade weekend too; I was excited to get out of the castle.

Angelina and I took our usual seats in the middle of the room, and waited for Professor Lupin to enter the classroom.

"Do you think that he'll assign an essay for Monday?" Angelina asked.

"I sure hope not…I have enough to do already…" I groaned.

"Good morning class!" Professor Lupin said, giving us a giant grin.

"Good morning Professor," the entire class responded.

"Today we are going to be practicing our patronus charm," Professor Lupin said, "As I was reading through your essays last night I decided that you had all grasped the concept well enough to try it. I am not expecting anyone cast a full patronus today, but I have no doubt that with practice you will all be able to do it. I have only met one witch who was able to do the charm on the first day. Now, can anyone tell me what the spell is?"

"Expecto Patronum," Cedric Diggory answered.

"Very good, five points to Hufflepuff," Professor Lupin answered with a smile, "Now can anyone tell me what the key to a patronus charm is?"

"You need to be thinking about your happiest memory," Katie answered.

"Correct, five points to Gryffindor," Professor Lupin answered, "Now, everyone spread out, I will be walking around if any of you need any help."

We all spread out eagerly; everyone had a look of serious concentration on their faces, trying to think of the happiest moment of their lives. After about a minute or so you could hear people mumbling the incantation, all hoping to get their patronus.

I on the other hand was still trying to think of a moment when I was happiest. The most obvious would have been getting on a broom for the first time, but for some reason, I didn't think it would work (maybe because I flew into a tree and broke my arm…but I try and block that out), and then it comes to me. Family Christmas last year, sitting and opening presents under the tree.

_I cautiously made my way downstairs, where I knew my parents were waiting for me, unsure of what I would find. Most days my parents couldn't even stand to be in the same room together without wanting to hex each other._

_As I approached the sitting room I could hear laughter, and I instantly walked a little faster, a smile on my face. My parents both grinned at me when I entered the room, and my smile widened._

" _Merry Christmas!" I said, excitedly, glad that they were getting along today._

_"_ _Happy Christmas Talli, dear!" my parents said in unison, smiling at me._

They had spent the entire next few weeks happy and with out any yelling, and it was weeks like that that I saw how much my parents really did love each other.

Feeling confident, I raised my wand and murmured, "Expecto Patronum,"

I felt the smile fall off of my face when I realized that nothing had happened. I glanced around the classroom and could see that I was not the only student who is looking disappointed. I noticed one or two Ravenclaw's get the silver mist that Professor Lupin had talked about, but most students had nothing.

"Remember, you need to really focus on the memory, and the joy that the memory brought you. If it doesn't work for you after a few tries, I would suggest trying a different memory," Professor Lupin offered.

I tried to focus all of my energy on the feeling of joy of sitting with my parents and opening my presents. I tried to picture their smiling faces and the peace that could be felt through out the room. After trying the spell a few more times, each fail making me more and more frustrated, I decided to try a new memory.

I had trouble focusing on which memory to try because more students were having luck, at least achieving the silver mist. Feeling really discouraged I filtered through all of my memories. Finally landing on the summer between 3rd and 4th year, I closed my eyes, and concentrated completely on the memory.

_The weather outside was absolutely beautiful; it was warm, but not too hot, and there was a breeze, but it wasn't too windy. The sun had been shinning, and the rain clouds were still a ways in the distance. All in all, it was the perfect day to go out and play Quidditch, and that was exactly what we did._

_The Weasly children and I all rushed down the hill towards the field that we would play, before we picked the teams and who would play first. The entire day had been spent laughing and enjoying ourselves. I tried to teach Ginny a few tricks, stating that us girls needed to stick together._

_We ended up playing through the rain, before my father and Mr. Weasly came to get us, both supporting huge grins. Back at the Burrow our moms were giving us disapproving looks because we were soaking wet, but they smiled none the less._

I could feel myself grinning at the memory, I tried to feel the wind rushing through my hair as I flew, or the smile on my parent's faces and the laughter of the twins.

With my eyes still closed and concentrating I said the incantation, and when I opened my eyes I was thrilled to see a silver mist coming out of my wand.

"Excellent job Talli," Professor Lupin said from behind me, smiling.

"Thanks," I said, returning his grin.

**Oliver's POV:**

I walked up the stairs to the dormitories feeling quite smug about not getting caught hooking up with Talli. I knew the minute people figured it out would be the minute that people started wanting to put a label on it. That was something neither of us wanted, I mean, we still hated each other (okay, sometimes we got along…), we could just appreciate each other sometimes because we were practically the same... I shook my head at the thoughts, trying to avoid thinking about it, and how it reminded me of last year, and how great things were.

"Hey Ollie!" Carter said, when I entered the dorm room.

"Hey," I said, "You guys ready for the party tonight?"

"You know me, I'm always ready for a party!" Carter said laughing.

"Partying isn't the only thing you're in the mood for," said Kyle, smirking.

"No, I suppose it's not…" Carter said laughing, "Hey Ollie, think I have a chance with Talli? You dated her, you know what she likes…"

"Talli?" I said, tensing slightly , "I'm not sure you're her type…"

"Damn…so you don't think I have a chance?" he pressed on, smirking slightly.

"No, you could maybe get Tiffany though, you know she's always up for some fun…" I said, trying to ignore the jealousy that was creeping into my thoughts, "I'm going to shower…"

**Third Person:**

As the boys in the seventh year Gryffindor dorm watched their friend walk into the bathroom, and they shared a look.

"You owe me a bottle of fire whiskey," Carter said, "I told you he's still protective over her."

"You don't think he still likes her do you?" Kyle asked, curious.

Carter laughed, "No, definitely not. He knows he fucked up, he's over it."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Kyle said laughing.

"If they get back together I'll buy you five bottles of fire whiskey," Carter wagered.

Both of the boys laughed, thinking that it would be impossible, neither knowing that the couple was well on their way already and before they graduated Carter would be buying Kyle five bottles of fire whiskey (and he would be surprisingly happy about it).

* * *

**Hey all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was a tad bit sad, but it needed to happen. So I want to know what you think in the comments! Tell me what you thought of the chapter or answer some of these: Is Talli's mother really gone? Was Oliver really jealous? How soon do you think Carter will be buying Kyle that fire whiskey?**

**(Also, the witch is Lily Evans, I was definitely having feels for the marauders at the time that this was written)**


	18. Of Chocolate and the Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am 90% sure that if anyone saw me right now they would be incredibly afraid for my sanity. I was standing in the back corner of the library, my eyes wide and horror stricken, all because of Oliver fucking Wood, and his damn smirk (which I am supposed to be completely un-effected by). To be able to explain why I was so horrified, I need to go back to yesterday morning, and the start of our weekend.

I am 90% sure that if anyone saw me right now they would be incredibly afraid for my sanity. I was standing in the back corner of the library, my eyes wide and horror stricken, all because of Oliver fucking Wood, and his damn smirk (which I am supposed to be completely un-effected by). To be able to explain why I was so horrified, I need to go back to yesterday morning, and the start of our weekend.

* * *

 

I woke up Saturday morning, feeling ecstatic. After the week I had had, I was excited to be able to get away from school for a few hours, because, let's be honest, who can be upset when they get to go Hogsmeade shopping. All of us girls rushed around the bathroom getting ready, Katie and Alicia trying to look cute for their dates, while Angelina and I were just going for presentable. I threw my blonde hair into a messy bun, and put on my leggings and a giant red sweater, while putting on a pair of boots. Once we were all (finally) ready we made our way down to the Great Hall to grab a bite to eat.

When we got to the Great Hall we could practically feel the room buzzing with excitement. Everyone was definitely a little anxious to be able to leave the castle for a day and get some fresh air. I could hear the excitement in some students' voices as they talked about being able to see their families for the day; the impending war was putting a strain on many families. I could feel myself becoming slightly dejected, knowing that I would probably never see my parents again, but I decided not to dwell on that. Instead I decided to focus on the fact that I was going to be able to spend the day aimlessly wondering the small little town with Angelina.

Our breakfast was eaten quickly as George wanted to get going with Katie so that they could gather everything for the party tonight (all the while Katie was muttering about how this "was going to be such a romantic date") and Alicia was already a few minutes late for her date with Ryan, a 6th year Hufflepuff with the most gorgeous blue eyes (seriously, his eyes were such a piercing blue…). We asked her what happened with Alex, and she simply stated that they had both gotten bored…That left Angelina and I to eat, but we decided that Honeydukes chocolate samples were definitely more important (besides, you needed to get there early to get the good ones!).

The two of us were lucky enough to get our own carriage (mainly because rushed passed Oliver and Carter and almost stole their carriage-I bet Oliver was really regretting making us run all the time now!). And we spent the entire ride their laughing hysterically, and just really enjoying each other's company. The first stop was Honeydukes (shocker right), where we each ate an embarrassing amount of chocolate, and I bought some for Ginny because I knew that she was bummed about not being able to come to Hogsmeade yet and she was always begging her brothers to bring her some back (I was definitely going to be her favorite!). The next stop was to go into some of the little boutiques along the street.

We passed Madame Puddifoots, and one glance inside we could see Alicia's wide grin as she was laughing along with whatever Ryan was saying. Fred and Teri looking a little tense, and I could tell that Fred looked uncomfortable with whatever conversation they were currently having. Fred and Teri were a step up from Joy and Lee though, who were sitting there silently, looking anywhere but at each other.

That was all that I saw though, I watched as Angelina noticed Fred and Teri and tried to keep the disappointed look off of her face. I reached down and slowly grabbed her hand, showing my silent support. She turned and looked at me, before giving me a small grin.

"I'm okay," she told me, "I'm trying to get over it, really, I've accepted that it wont happen. If he's happy with Teri, then I am happy for him."

I wanted so badly to tell her that they didn't look so happy just know, but I didn't want to give her hope without talking to Fred first.

"Good for you," I told her, smiling.

We then walked into the little shops, trying on random outfits, some completely outrageous, and some that we decided we just needed to buy, including a sparkly dress for tonight.

We then continued to walk around, eventually deciding to go to the Shrieking Shack. When we got there I could feel the hair on my neck start to stick up. This place really gave me the creeps.

All of a sudden someone came up and grabbed Angelina and I. We both screamed at the top of our lungs, and I definitely jumped at least a foot in the air (though I would definitely never admit that). I could hear people laughing behind us and I swung behind me and hit Oliver on the back of his head. He and Carter were laughing hysterically behind us.

"You just jumped a foot in the air!" Oliver said (I swear he looked like he was about to pee his pants…and it really was not that funny.)

"It really was not that funny…" I said, getting a little defensive.

"Come on Talli, it really was…" Angelina said, smirking at me.

"Well, let's not forget that you jumped too!" Carter said, giggling (in a very manly way…of course).

"What are you guys up to?" I asked.

"We were just getting ready to go back to the castle, but we decided to come here quick, it's little Carter's favorite place to come…" Oliver said laughing.

"Ever since we snuck here in 2nd year…" he said, jokingly staring off into the distance.

"Well, I think it's time to head back…" said Angelina.

"I agree…"

"Hey, we'll come back with you cause we're heading that way too, right Ollie boy?" Carter said, giving us a genuine smile.

"Yeah, let's go," Oliver said.

As luck would have it (for us) we saw George and Katie walking ahead of us, still getting stuff ready for the party. We snuck up so that we were close behind them, and we could hear their bickering.

"I still don't see why we couldn't get the raspberry stuff…" Katie said.

"Because you are one of the only people that would drink it!" George said, looking at her incredulously.

"Psh! Plenty of people would have had it!" Katie said, "It would have been better than the extra bottle of fire whiskey…"

"DON'T SPEAK SUCH BLASPHEMY!" he said, looking offended.

"How dare she!" Oliver said, laughing.

"The horror!" I added, all of us cracking up, as they turned around looking at us and shooting glares at us, before walking into another store.

The ride back was definitely interesting; the banter back and fourth between the four of us was enough to have me laughing the entire way back. I knew I would receive endless amounts of teasing for getting along with Oliver all day. I knew it would come with Alicia hinting that we were totally meant to be, and since we got along all day it meant that we were going to have like 600 children or something along those lines.

* * *

We were all running around our bathroom trying to get ready for the party, all in various states of getting ready. Alicia was running around in her Aztec shorts and black bra, pulling her hair into a tight ponytail and putting the finishing touches on her dark makeup. Katie was in her robe putting her hair into loose curls, and doing her makeup. Angelina was in her tight highlighter yellow skirt and lacey white tank top, doing her makeup, and curling her hair as well. I on the other hand was straightening my hair, before going and pulling on my sparkly dress. Tonight was definitely going to be a blast.

After we were all ready (and looking great I might add…) and we made our way down to the blasting music and got ourselves some drinks. We were only there a few minutes before Kyle, Carter and Oliver made their way over to us, eyes slightly glossy and clearly a little drunk.

"We are declaring round three!" Kyle said, looking directly at Alicia.

"Bring it on!" She said, smirking, while we cheered her on.

It took me more effort than I am willing to admit to keep the smile on my face though. I refuse to peg it on jealousy though, and decided to believe it was because of have disgusting it was watch them play person after person.

Deciding to ignore it I made my way to the dance floor, smiling and dancing with Angelina, having a few more drinks, and in all around good time. We had a night where we were not focusing on outside things, just us having fun and being idiots. At some point Angelina joined a game of spin the bottle, from which I watched safely on the sidelines, cheering every time it landed on her. Alicia joined me, mumbling something about how they grow up so fast and pretended to wipe a proud tear from her eye.

Katie could be spotted in the dancing with George; clearly intoxicated with the raspberry alcohol he surprised her with. I could tell George was thrilled that Katie was letting go of her stress from the week and just enjoying herself (if you asked me, I'd say that was one of the main reasons they decided to throw this party).

I, of course, could not leave the party unscathed, found myself dancing on top of the table with Alicia. I am not really sure how that happened, but one second the starting beat to our favorite song was blaring through the speakers, and the next thing I know I was being dragged up there. Shortly later Lee joined us, screaming something about 'not giving a fuck' 'I'm single now'.

I could see Oliver in the corner chatting up two girls at once (or attempting too), while Kyle and Carter stood a few feet away laughing hysterically. I continued to scan the room (there really was a great view from up here) until my eyes made contact with Fred's, who was shaking his head and laughing at me, while standing and talking with Teri.

All in all, it was a pretty great night, and we all enjoyed ourselves…the next morning on the other hand, would be a whole other story.

* * *

The next morning I woke up with a splitting headache, feeling completely nauseous, and totally hung over. I slowly rolled myself over to grab my hang over potion, which Katie smartly suggested we leave on our nightstands last night, before closing my eyes again and waiting for it to take its affect.

About an hour later we were all showered and had our backpacks set before heading to breakfast, in desperate need of food. The meal itself was fairly silent as we were all still feeling the effects of last night. This turned out to be a good thing though because by the time we reached the library none of us were in the mood to talk yet, allowing each of us to focus.

That focus was short lived however because soon Fred, George, Oliver and a very hung over Lee joined us.

"So what was the score?" Fred asked, looking between Alicia and Oliver.

"I got 5," Alicia said, "I think they are becoming aware…"

We all laughed at that, and I could feel Oliver's eyes on me while he answered, "I had 6…so looks like I win this time!"

I refused to look up from my essay, but I am 90% sure he did a happy dance. After that little comment, and a shushing noise from Lee, we were able to all focus on our work. For the next few hours everything was fine and dandy, but them I need a book, for my freaking Potions class, for this foot long essay that I had to write.

I got up quietly from my seat and made my way towards the back corner of the library, where the book I wanted would be located. I was standing on my tippy toes trying to reach it when I felt someone come up behind me.

"Need some help?" I heard Oliver ask, and when I turned around he was directly behind me, smirking (and I swear I was immune and my heart didn't melt…promise).

Not waiting for an answer he wrapped his arms around my waist and boosted me up so that I could grab the book. Soon enough my feet were back on the floor, and was turning to face him, his hands still on my hips, and his smirk still there.

It was in that moment where I lost my self-control, maybe it had something to do with my (not) jealousy from last night, or the fact that he was standing so close to me (smirking) or maybe it was because of all of the bonding we had had that weekend. In the end, it didn't matter why, because I had never wanted to kiss Oliver Wood so badly in my entire life.

If I had been thinking properly, I would have thought about the fact that anyone could walk by and see us, and probably decided that this was a bad idea. I was 100% sure that I stopped thinking the minute he pushed me back into the bookcase, and lifted me so that I could wrap my legs around his waist.

Our little make out session was short lived because our friends were sitting at a table and would soon be getting suspicious. Before he exited the aisle that we had been in he turned around and gave me a wink (whilst smirking, of course, in true Oliver Wood fashion). It was in that moment that I felt my eyes widen in horror and I knew I was fucked. I was completely and utterly fucked. I had a tiny (read huge) crush on Oliver Wood, and I was certain it would be the death of me.

 


	19. Of Secrets, Sneaking and Snogs

The next couple days were torturous. Just because I had come to the conclusion that I did, in fact, fancy Oliver Wood, does not mean that I was happy about it. I mean, seriously, didn't I learn the first time around that this was not going to end well? Why did my heart think it was a good idea to put itself in a situation where it knew it was going to get hurt?

Over those past few days I had tried my hardest to avoid Wood, allowing myself time to think. Of course, I still saw him at practice, but he was pretty easy to ignore there. I was able to focus on my job as a seeker and what I needed to do to get the snitch.

Unfortunately, I think he was catching on that I was ignoring him. He kept shooting me weird looks, which I definitely did not appreciate. I still hadn't figured out what to tell him, all I knew is that we couldn't keep hooking up. It was going to end in me getting my heart broken by him once again, and I was not going to allow that to happen. I couldn't do that to myself.

"Okay, that's all for the night. Great practice team, if we play like that we will beat those Slytherins for sure."

We all flew to the ground, and made our way to the changing room. Admittedly, I was moving much faster than I should have been, and he was shooting me odd looks. Shit, he has officially become aware. This was not going to end well.

Once we got into the changing rooms, I tried to change in pace with the other girls, hoping that I could play off my rush earlier as stress.

"Talli, can you come into the office when you're done, I just found a new play that I wanted to run by you."

"Of course," I responded.

SHIT. I was so fucked. I was not prepared to have this conversation, and I really did not know how this was going to go. I was hoping that it was going to end the way that I wanted it to.

After changing I walked into his office, my palms were in my sweatshirt pocket to hide the gross amount they were sweating. I watched as all of our friends started their trek to the castle, and I knew I was so screwed. I was just hoping that I would be able to hold my ground, which looking at how attractive Wood looked sitting behind the desk, I knew was going to be much harder than originally suspected.

I dropped my bag by the door, and quickly sat down in the chair opposite him. I knew that if I allowed him to get up first my resolve would completely shatter, and I couldn't allow that to happen.

"So, you wanted to go over some plays?" I tried weakly, both of us knowing that was not the reason he called me in here.

He looked at me funny, "Are you alright Talli? You and I both know that's not why I called you in here. I haven't seen you all week."

Well, fuck, it was now or never, and looking at his face, it was starting to look like never. I bit the inside of my cheek, knowing that I didn't have much of a choice.

"I just can't keep doing this Oliver," I stated, hoping that he would accept that and not ask for an explanation.

But of course, when was luck on my side?

"Is it something that I did?" he asked, "Because I thought we were becoming friends, and I hope that if I did something wrong you would tell me. You've never had any problems doing that before."

"No Oliver, you didn't do anything wrong…" I said, knowing that if he pushed me farther he would probably figure out the real reason why…and that was something I wanted to avoid at all costs, "I just figured it would be best to stop before it gets messy…"

"Why would it get messy?" he asked (so, then again, maybe he was too thick to figure out the real reason).

"Because Oliver, this isn't going to work for me forever. I am going to (read 'I already do') want more, and I know that you wont give it to me, so why make it more complicated when I find someone who will?"

Oliver looked slightly hurt and slightly offended for a minute, before he shrugged and replied, "Well, if you are sure."

"I am," I said, "I mean, it's been great, so I figured we might as well stop before we reach any complications."

"Alright, so what does that make us?"

"Friends, with out the benefits?" I asked cautiously.

"Friends," he said, smirking at me, "Are you sure we can handle that?"

"I guess we will have to see," I said, smirking right on back.

"Well, let's head back to the castle, I don't know about you, but I have a pile of work with my name on it."

"That definitely makes two of us…" I said, ignoring the sinking feeling in my stomach at the thought of just being friends.

The walk back to the common room that night was brutal. I was exhausted, and really just wanted my bed. The conversation with Oliver had taken a lot out of me, and then the homework that followed was killer. It was hard to focus, especially with the Quidditch game coming this weekend. It would either be the Slytherins or us playing in the Cup next year, and I really don't think I could handle it if Slytherin won.

I was almost back to the common room, when I saw the one thing that could have made my day worse. I took a deep breath, blinked quickly, before hurrying away. I really didn't want to stay and watch Oliver make out with Tiffany. In fact, that was the last thing on my list that I wanted to see. If I would have paid attention, I probably would have caught his confused face staring after me, but I was already on the move.

I finished the walk in record time, and practically growled the password at the Fat Lady, who let me in, murmuring something about a lack of manners. Once I entered our dorm room, I collapsed dramatically on my bed, not noticing the three pairs of eyes that were watching me.

"Erm, Tals?" Angelina started nervously.

My head snapped in their direction and I smiled weakly, trying to make it look like I was okay.

"Are you alright?" Katie asked sweetly.

"No…" I said, slowly, "Why am I such an idiot?"

"You aren't an idiot Talli…why would you think that?" Alicia asked, looking slightly confused.

"I knew this was going to happen…everyone always says it's a bad idea…" I said, knowing that I wasn't making any sense to them, but I was trying to figure it out for myself.

"Talli…" Angelina said, "We can't help you if you don't fill us in on what happened…"

"Oh…sorry…" I said, "Basically, I have been casually hooking up with Oliver for the past month…And don't give me those looks, I know I should have said something, but it was just hooking up, and we didn't want to make a big deal about and have people think that we were going to get back together…"

"You fell for him, didn't you?" Katie said, knowingly.

"Yes, and I wasn't supposed too…you all witnessed how it worked out for me last year…"

"Maybe it will be different this time?" Angelina said, "Did you tell him you had feelings for him?"

I shot her an incredulous look, "Hell no. I just told him that I wanted something real, so it was going to be a good thing to stop while we were ahead, deciding to stay friends."

"And how did he take that?" Alicia asked, curiously.

"Quite well, much better than me apparently, as he was just making out with Tiffany in the hallway…"

"HE WASN'T!" Alicia said, outraged, "He told me he was done with her last week…."

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say.

"Oh, Talli…" Katie said, "It'll be okay, we will think of a way to help you move on…"

"If you want…"

I nodded, "I can't sit around and hope that he likes me back, the chances of that happening are not very high, I think he would have said something earlier if he liked me back.

The girls all nodded, and then we changed the topic. Trying to figure out how Katie could make her first time with George special; which, trust me, was a much more interesting conversation than me being upset about Wood.

"What about after the Quidditch match next weekend?" I suggested (I have a slight problem with Quidditch…I recognize that).

"That could work…if we win," Katie said, "Especially since we got close through Quidditch."

"Yeah, because he was always saving your ass from bludgers!" Ang added laughing.

"Well, I greatly appreciated it! And now so does he!" Katie said, laughing.

"HEY!" Alicia said, so loudly we all jumped, "You could get red lingerie!"

"ALICIA!" Katie said, turning scarlet while the rest of us were practically in tears laughing so hard.

"It would look great on you! OH MY GOD! WE COULD SNEAK INTO HOGSMEADE AND FIND YOU SOMETHING TO WEAR!"

"SHHHHHH!" Katie said, "We don't need the whole house to hear!"

"Does this mean that we get to go!?" Angelina said, excited.

"Fine…" Katie said, and Alicia and I high fived in victory.

We quickly dispersed around the room, changing into all black (which we all knew was unnecessary, but we didn't care).

"I cannot believe are actually doing this…" Katie muttered as we exited the common room.

"Really? Because this is something that would happen…" Alicia said, giggling.

"Where are you ladies off to?" Oliver said, emerging out of fucking nowhere.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Alicia said, smirking, before we continued to skip down the corridor, leaving him behind us shaking his head (I think he knew better at this point than to ask any questions).

As we retreated down the corridor I could feel his eyes on me, but I refused to look back and see. I knew if I looked back, he would be able to see the hurt in my eyes, and I wasn't prepared for him to know that.

Once we got into Hogsmeade we moved quickly towards the shop, knowing that it would soon be closed. Katie's face was getting progressively redder with each step. Angelina kept shaking her head and Alicia and I were laughing hysterically. That laughter only got worse as we entered the shop and started looking around for stuff for Katie.

We sent her off into the dressing room, and picked out some cute things for her, most of them serious, some of them goofy (Alicia found on that was simply straps of leather-Katie refused to even put that one on).

In the end, she settled for a deep scarlet bra and lacy black underwear, and she looked gorgeous. We quickly made our way out of the shop (practically dragging Alicia because she wanted another lacy blue bra-and she already had two in that exact shade) and headed towards the Three Broomsticks, because why waste a perfectly good trip to Hogsmeade?

We sat at the Three Broomsticks, laughing and talking for about an hour and a half, before we decided (tipsily) that we should head back since we had classes in the morning.

The next morning we all woke with dull headaches, but in decent moods (all remembering our fun night of adventures). We showered quickly, through on our uniforms, and made our way to the Great Hall for coffee and tea (hoping that it would take away some of the headache).

Turns out, entering the Great Hall only made the headaches worse. There was another article in the paper, this time about protests breaking out in the East, accusing the Minister of not doing enough and finding Black (the last time he was seen supposedly it was towards the East) and then protests breaking out in the West about how the Minister is doing too much, and too search other countries will just end with more deaths (especially since he was supposedly sighted in the country a few weeks ago).

We all turned and shared a look, knowing that if we were to go to war, it would be much worse than Sirius Black roaming around. Especially when we had no proof that was out of the country. In fact, I had a feeling that he would not be leaving…

Alicia's POV:

I made my way to the back of the Library where I knew Ollie was sitting (probably making Quidditch plays and not doing his homework).

"She told us last night…" I told him as I sat down.

"Does she know that I already told you?" He asked, looking at me cautiously.

"You mean did I tell her that you are basically in love with her, you just wont admit it to yourself?" I asked, "Nope, I acted just as surprised as the other girls."

"So basically you failed?" He said.

"No, now stop changing the subject, we are talking about this Ollie," I told him, pointedly.

"There is nothing to talk about, it's done as you know…"

"Well, do you want it to be done?"

"No?" He said looking at me funny, "You know I was enjoying it…and like you said…I might have developed some feelings along the way…"

"Then do something about it Oliver, she said that she was waiting for something real, not that she hated you…(I was definitely leaving out the part that she was basically asking him to grow a pair and ask her out-I had kept his secret, and I would keep her's as well), though you definitely fucked up by making out with Tiffany…" I said, glaring at him.

"She came out of nowhere…" he said, "It didn't last long, just long enough for her to see it apparently…"

"Yeah…you need to figure out what you want Oliver, Talli won't wait around forever, she's a great girl, and soon enough another guy will realize it too…" I said, before getting up and allowing him to think.

Talli's POV:

I was walking back to the common room, exhausted, having just spent the last few hours after practice in the Library. With that being said, I wasn't paying that much attention, thus when Oliver appeared in front of me, I jumped a foot in the air. I was not expecting him to come up and talk to me, and I definitely was not expecting him to grab my face and kiss me. In the middle of the common room and with so much passion that it made my head spin.

When he pulled away, I looked at him, "I still mean what I said Oliver. I'm not doing this anymore, I want something that will be serious…"

"What if I want to give you something serious?"  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Oh Snap! He wants something serious! What do you guys think?


	20. Of the Quidditch Finals

We made our way towards the Quidditch Pitch, each of us shaking with anticipation and nerves. The cool spring morning air hitting our faces, really making sure that we were really awake. Everyone was too nervous to talk (I wasn't completely positive that I wouldn't vomit if I opened my mouth), each of us having so much riding on this match. For Oliver it was the scouting opportunities to go into the professional Quidditch league. For the rest of us we really wanted to play in the cup next year. There was also that added pressure that we all knew that whoever played the best today would most likely be made Team Captain next year. I reached my hand out, searching for Oliver's, hoping to find a little comfort there and hoping to help relax him in return.

We entered the changing room and changed into our red and gold uniforms, still silent and waiting for Wood to start giving us his usual speech.

"I want you all to go out there and play your best," he started, looking around the room at each of us, "I want you all to play fair, not that any of you would cheat, and I want you to be careful. I know that we can beat them if we play our best, because we are the best Quidditch team Hogwarts has seen in years! Now lions on three ONE…TWO…THREE!"

"LIONS!" We all shouted in unison.

"I just wanted to thank you guys for such an amazing few years, it has been an honor and a privilege playing with every single one of you," Olive said, smiling at each of us, "I thought about writing a sappy speech to make today, but I thought that I would stick to the traditional one. Now, let's go win!"

"Awww Wood! You are still getting pretty sappy on us!" Fred said, smiling sadly at him, trying to lighten the mood.

Oliver just rolled his eyes, and as he opened his mouth to respond Lee's voice could be heard echoing through the pitch.

"Let's welcome your favorite Gryffindor team to the pitch one last time: the amazing seeker Prince, the unbeatable chasers Bell, Spinet, and Johnson, the crazy beaters or the Weasley twins, and the unstoppable keeper and Captain Oliver Wood!" Lee said with a great amount of enthusiasm, though we could all hear the sadness in his voice knowing that this was the last time he would announce his friends together and knowing that we were all sad that this was our last time playing as a team.

We flew onto the pitch and I could feel the butterflies going crazy in my stomach. I was confident in our teams ability to kick Slytherin's ass, there was so much riding on the match that I was terrified. There was always that what if?

Then Lee continued his announcing in a monotone voice, sounding very bored, "Now I guess I have to announce the Slytherin team too…you have seeker Nott, chasers, (Marcus) Flint, Pucey, and Rowle, for keeper Higgs you have, and at beaters you have the buffoons (this earned him a sharp glare from McGonagall), Crabbe and Goyle."

The Slytherin team made their way out onto the field, each of them looking us up and down and glaring at us. Nott and I glared at each other, both desperately wanting to win. Oliver and Flint flew towards each other and prepared to shake hands, giving each other such deadly stares that I thought one of them was going to fall off their brooms dead. The stands were absolutely silent, not even Lee was adding his cheeky snippets of commentary. They reached out and squeezed each other's hands as tightly as they could (I could have sworn I saw Flint flinch a little-but it was so fast that I wasn't positive that that was what I saw).

"I want a nice and clean game from all of you (cue a pointed look at the Slytherins), I am not afraid to pull anyone from the game," Madame Hooch said, glancing around at each of us, her beady eyes seeming to try and find which one of us she would be kicking out first.

After looking around at each of us, she threw the quaffle up, and the game began. My heart was pounding, and I shot up too look and see if I could find the snitch.

"AND HERE WE GO!" I could hear Lee shouting "LOOKS LIKE JOHNSON WITH THE QUAFFLE, FLYING TOWARDS THE GOAL POSTS! SHE PASSES TO SPINNET, WHO PASSES TO BELL, WHO SHOOTS...AND SHE SCORES! LOOK AT THE TEAM GO, THEY ARE FLYING MUCH BETTER THAN THEIR OPPONENTS-sorry Professor-THE SCORE IS 10-0! TO GRYFFINDOR, OBVIOUSLY!"

With that I started to tune Lee out, knowing that I would get too distracted if I continued to listen to what my teammates were doing. I needed to focus on trying to find the snitch. My eyes roamed across the pitch, looking for the little ball of gold. I could see Nott flying near Wood, most likely muttering insults. However, from what it looked like he was not getting very far, Wood was too focused. He had too much riding on this match to get distracted.

I looked to the side to see a bludger flying towards me, and to dodge it so quickly, that I lost my balance. Thankfully, I was able to regain it very quickly and spot the snitch close to the ground. I quickly went into a dive, having the advantage of being the first one to spot the snitch. I pressed myself as close to my broom as I could, the wind whipping me in the face.

I could faintly make out the crowds cheering, though I could not tell who or what it was for. My eyes were narrowed in on the snitch as it began to move to the left. It then started zooming up with such speed that I needed to quickly change out of my dive and start flying up, giving Nott the advantage because he was higher than I was.

I did not let that discourage me though, I leaned farther down on my broom to move as fast as I could. Nott and I were neck and neck when a bludger came flying at us from the Slytherin team. Both of us needed to move slightly out of the way to avoid the bludger, giving the snitch just enough time to get out of the way from our reaching hands.

"AND THE SNITCH IS GONE AGAIN. BUT THERE IS GOOD NEWS FOR THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM AS WOOD MADE A FANTASTIC SAVE, THROWING THE QUAFFLE TOWARDS BELL WHO FLIES DOWN THE PITCH. AS SHE APPROACHES THE GOAL SHE MAKES A QUICK PASS TO SPINNET WHO SHOOTS AND SCORES! WAY TO GO ALICIA! THAT MAKES THE SCORE 70-40 GRYFFINDOR!"

I grinned for my friend and continued to search for the snitch to reappear. All of a sudden I heard the a collective scream from the stands. I whipped my head around and watched as Alicia fell from her broom, racing towards the ground. Our team all going into dives to try and catch her before she hit the ground.

"WHAT THE FUCK! (LANGUAGE JORDAN! McGonagall's voice echoed) THAT WAS A DIRTY HIT, KICK HIM OUT!" Lee was shouting as Madame Hooch charmed Alicia so that she hit the ground lightly, allowing us to calm ourselves a little.

"TIME OUT!" Oliver shouted, racing towards his best friend, looking terrified.

Our entire team was on the ground with in seconds all crowding around Alicia as Professor Lupin made his way towards us to check her quickly before deciding if she would need to go to the hospital wing (If I had to guess I would say that was where she was headed).

We all crowded around our unconscious friend as Madame Hooch kicked Goyle out of the match. I could faintly hear Flint yelling at her, complaining about how it was a fair play. However, I was tuning him out and focusing on my friend, as she had so much blood on her face.

"AND IT IS OFFICIAL, GOYLE IS OUT OF THE MATCH FOR HITTING ALICIA WITH THE BLUDGER AND HIS BAT. THERE IS NO NEWS ON HOW SHE IS, BUT FROM THE LOOKS OF IT SHE WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO THE GAME."

"She is going to need to be taken to the Hospital WIng," Professor Lupin informed us, and he added (probably noticing how worried we were), "Don't worry, I have seen people get hit with much worse, she will be fine. Madame Pomfrey will be able to fix her up quickly."

We all nodded at Professor Lupin and I did not trust myself to speak as he conjured a stretcher and started heading towards the castle.

"Alright team, this may be a setback, but we are still better than them, we can still do this!" He, looking slightly like he was trying to convince himself as well.

"We know what we are doing," I said, looking him dead in the eye (praying to Merlin that the look that I was giving him was reassuring-and not showing how shaken I was from seeing my friend like that), "Angelina and Katie are still better than the three of them combined, Fred and George are at the advantage because there are two of them and only one for the Slytherin's and Oliver, you are the best Keeper this school has seen in a while. We are fine."

"You're exactly right Talli! We've got this," George said, smiling at me and giving me a thumbs up.

"Of course we've still got this," Oliver said, smirking at us, giving the allusion of confidence, "Lions on three. ONE TWO THREE!"

"LIONS!" we all screamed.

With that we flew back into the sky and the match began again, each of us now fighting with more force. I scanned the sky hoping that the snitch would come back soon, to take some of the stress off of my team mates. I knew that only having 2 chasers would put the Slytherins at an advantage, but I also knew that Fred and George would be sending all the bludgers their way. I knew that with one beater, the bludgers would be forced to Slytherin players more so than the Gryffindor team.

With that thought I found the snitch up in the center of the pitch and was speeding up towards it without a second thought; Nott right on my tail. I was taking deep breaths and focusing only on catching the snitch. I could hear a bludger flying towards us and listened to the crunch as it hit the back of Nott's broom, giving me the edge that I needed to catch the snitch before him. My fingers closed in around the tiny golden ball and I felt myself begin to grin in victory.

"AND GRYFFINDOR WINS THE CUP! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!" Lee started singing in an off key voice.

We all flew towards the ground, cheering happily. The minute I landed we all gathered into a huge group hug, each of us proud of the game that we played. The second we all broke apart Oliver's arms were around me, pulling me into the air and swinging me around in circles.

"PUT ME DOWN!" I yelled, laughing.

He kept going around and around in circles.

"Oh my Merlin, if you don't stop, I will vomit…" I threatened, glaring at him.

He set me down and pecked my quickly on the lips, to which I rolled my eyes. By the time he set me down, the sea of red and gold was almost to us. Professor McGonagall was leading the crowd, the cup in her hand. I could see a couple of Quidditch scouts following her, a couple of them grinning widely.

Oliver looked nervous, but made his way towards McGonagall and the scouts. I watched him have a quick conversation with McGonagall (who was practically beaming with pride that her team was the winners). After accepting the cup, smirking, Oliver held it up and everyone cheered in victory. Winking, he handed it to me, before turning to go talk with the scouts.

Fred and George screamed happily, before picking me up and putting me on their shoulders. We charged into the red and gold fans of our house, everyone joyously cheering. Proud that our team would be representing our school next year, and the pride knowing that we beat out our rivals.

We all sat around Alicia who was laying in the Hospital Wing, and who was thankfully fine and was about to be released. After our short victory lap and celebration we had raced right up to the Hospital Wing, not even bothering to change.

"So we play in the Junior World Cup?!" she asked excitedly.

"WE PLAY IN THE CUP!" Katie said so enthusiastically that Madame Pomfrey shushed her.

"And Wood got to talk to some of the scouts," I added, bumping him gently with my shoulder as he rolled his eyes.

"And…" she said, looking expectantly at her best friend-waiting for him to explain.

"And...they said they would let me know this week if I get invited to try out for any of them," he said nonchalantly (as if it wasn't a huge deal).

"Ollie!" she said, her grin getting even bigger, "That's fantastic!"

"We'll see…" he said, to which we all rolled our eyes because we knew he would get a tryout.

"Man, you are the best Keeper this school has seen in years, you will get a tryout," George said, looking pointedly at him.

"I hope you're right," he said, "Now, who's excited for the party tonight?"

After Alicia was released from the Hospital Wing all of us girls locked ourselves in our dormitory and decided to pamper ourselves before our victory party (each grateful that it was a victory party not a pity party).

While we were painting our nails, Alicia asked the one question on all of our minds, "So, is tonight the night Katie?"

"I think tonight's the night…" she said, blushing, "But I guess I don't want to say it is and put pressure on it. We've talked about taking the next step, but I don't want to 'force' it you know? I want it to come naturally…"

"I completely understand…" Angelina said, nodding her head.

"So, are you going to wear you sexy lingerie?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows at her.

"Well, you know me, I like to be prepared," she said, winking at us, before laughing hysterically.

"I am so proud of you!" Alicia said, putting her hand on her heart dramatically.

"Alicia, I am not even a virgin, I don't know why you are making it a big deal…"

"Because, you must really like him if you are going to sleep with him…"

"I thought we established that already?"

"Well, yeah..but…" we all just rolled our eyes at Alicia and laughed.

By the time we had all showered and done our make-up, we were already a few minutes late. However, none of us were in a state to head down to the party. Katie was running around in jeans and her deep scarlet lace bra, trying to find a top (completely ignoring Alicia's suggestion of leather). Angelina was running around in her underwear and bra (cute light purple lace set-because 'even if no one was gonna see them-she felt cute') trying to find her dress, which she eventually found on Alicia's bed. Alicia was running around going through all the closets in her silk robe, attempting to pick out what looked best on her. I was running around in my black lace underwear with my tribal print crop top on, trying to find the pair of leggings that I wanted to wear.

After another fifteen minutes, we were finally settled. Katie found a black tank top with a deep v-neck, her pair of dark jeans and gold booties. Angelina was in a dress with black and white tribal print on the top, a coral skirt and coral sandals. Alicia settled on a black dress with cut outs and lime green pumps. Finally, I put my black leggings on with my tribal print crop top and black booties.

"Shall we make an appearance?" Angelina asked.

"I suppose we shall," Alicia said, and we linked arms before heading down the stairs, laughing the entire way down-knowing we looked ridiculous.

I was appreciative of the distraction, it allowed me to focus everything but the possibility that my (kind of) boyfriend was making out with someone else. Our relationship was different this time-I knew that, but I couldn't get the image of him making out with Marianna out of my head.

Thankfully, when I walked down the stairs I found him talking with George, completely ignoring any of the girls trying to get his attention. At the bottom of the stairs Angelina and Alicia went straight for the drinks, while Katie and I made our way over to the boys.

"Well, look at you looking nice...for once," Wood said, winking at me when I approached him.

"You are such an ass," I said, rolling my eyes at him before getting on my tip toes and giving him a peck.

"Can I get you a drink?" he asked, giving me a genuine smile, "You are, after all, the reason we won…"

"That is such bull shit and you know it...it is a team effort, you guys could have won even if I didn't catch the snitch," I said, rolling my eyes at him.

"Hey, I was trying to be nice…" he said, "Aren't boyfriends supposed to compliment their girlfriends?"

"Only if it's true, and they are your girlfriend, then yes. However, your statement was not true and you haven't asked me to be your girlfriend."

"Fair enough," he said, laughing.

I grabbed a butterbeer from the table, and took a long drink out of it.

"Let's go dance!" I said, grabbing his hand and dragging him over to where Angelina was grinding on Johnathan.

Alicia was belting the lyrics of the song into her firewhiskey bottle and swaying with Kyle, who after noticing Wood and I turned to Carter and shouted, "YOU OWE ME 5 BOTTLES OF FIREWHISKEY YOU FUCKER!"

The common room looked between the two of them confused, but then went on minding their own business. The only two who did not appear to notice the interaction was Lee and Joy, who appeared to be in an intense argument.

Oliver and I were only dancing for a few songs when our peace was destroyed.

Percy came over, and after a brief moment of being disturbed from seeing Oliver and I dancing he said, "Oliver, Carter told me to come and get you, we have a code orange…"

I looked at Oliver confused, but he seemed to understand because he was nodding his head.

"Alright, I gotta go," he said, not giving me an explanation but giving me a quick kiss, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure," I said, still looking confused.

I watched as he made his way up towards his dorm, and scanned the room for my friends. Katie (and George) were nowhere to be seen (WOOO-I was more excited about that than I probably should be). Fred was dancing with Terri, and Lee was no where to be seen. Finally I found Alicia and Angelina by the drink table and made my way over.

"Hey ladies," I said, reaching for another butterbeer.

"Girl, you need some firewhiskey, you are way too sober…" Alicia said, handing me a firewhiskey instead.

I shrugged and took a swig, which turned into two swigs, which turned to three-and all of a sudden I was finishing off the bottle.

The girls and I made our way on to the dancefloor and danced together, when a thought randomly hit me.

"Al, do you know what code orange means?" I said, slurring slightly.

"OHHH! Kyle must be really drunk and Ollie is the only one who can normally talk sense into him and get him into bed," she said with a shrug.

I just nodded and we continued to dance like lunatics. Eventually we ended up dancing on the table, while holding the Quidditch Cup. I don't really recall when or why we grabbed it, but it was there and we were loving it. I could see Fred dying of laughter and cheering us on, while Terri shook her head, and I could see Oliver's head near the stairs looking for the source of the noise and shaking his head at us, before retreating back into his room.

It was all fun and games until someone shouted for us to 'take it off' and Alicia took that very literally; she took her shoe off and chucked it at the pervs head.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" He shouted as her narrowly ducked out of the way.

Alicia just shrugged while Angelina and I laughed.

"Aren't you supposed to be a slut? So why don't you take it off?" he asked, getting closer to the table.

"What did you just say?" I asked, giving him a deadly look, no one gets to talk to my friends like that.

"I mean, that's what I've heard…" he said, shrugging like it wasn't a big deal.

"Watch it mate," Lee said, magically appearing with Fred (seriously...I hadn't seen Lee in hours).

"Come on, you've both probably heard it…"

"One more word you fucker…" Angelina said, jumping off the table ready to attack.

I grabbed Alicia's hand, as she was shaking with fury.

"I don't know what you're making a big deal about it, surely you know your friend is a slut…"

"You're just jealous because I won't sleep with scumbags like you. In fact, I highly doubt you've gotten laid recently with that attitude," Alicia said.

"Whatever, you're still a slut…"

Alicia jumped off the table (dragging me with her) and reached up and punched him in the face. He lost his balance slightly, but when he came back up he was ready to take a swing at her. I think he would if Lee hadn't gotten to him first, in fact, I think Lee broke his nose. Alex and Fred acted quickly after that, grabbing the guy (a Ravenclaw I think) and dragging him out of the common room.

"Thanks Lee," Alicia said, smiling at him, "Now, I think its bed time."

We all nodded in agreement and the three of us headed up to our room and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up and headed straight for the shower, however, as I opened our bathroom door George was coming out.

My eyes widened and I said, "Good morning Georgie."

"Morning Tals," he said, blushing bright red.

Well, they definitely did it.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________And here is the latest chapter! I hope you all are enjoying Talli and Oliver being together, because I know I am! I made polyvore outfits for this chapter, so if anyone wants to see them let me know in the comments! :)


	21. Of News, Dates and Breakups

I rushed through the corridors quickly dodging first years that were giving me funny looks. Damn Oliver Wood and his tendency to loose track of time during practice. I was not prepared to miss breakfast this morning, and so help me Merlin if I did it was not going to be pretty. Thankfully, I got to the Great Hall in time to snag some coffee and a chocolate chip muffin before making my way over to the smirking devil himself.

 

I glared at him as I sat down, which just caused him to smirk even more.

 

“I’m mad at you, you know,” I informed him, while he just rolled his eyes.

 

“And dare tell me, what have I done wrong this time?” he said, smirking at me.

 

“You let us out of practice late and therefore I almost missed breakfast, I get grouchy when I almost miss breakfast,” I said and he just laughed.

 

“Talli, you are grouchy with or without breakfast…”

 

I just glared at him and shoved my muffin in my mouth.

 

“Well, aren’t you lady like,” said Lee, laughing at me.

 

“This looser almost made me miss breakfast,” I grumbled my mouth still full of muffin (real cute, I know), while Lee’s eyebrows shot up, “By letting practice run late…”

 

The boys both laughed and I tried to hide my smile. Lee didn’t get a chance to respond since the owls started swooping in and bringing mail. When the owl dropped the _Daily Prophet_ at my plate, I was determined to not look at it. Every day the stories were becoming more and more grim. The Ministry was getting more and more impatient with finding Black, upping the reward at least once a week.

 

Oliver however was sitting and staring at a letter, looking like it might burn him. I noticed the Puddlemere United seal on the letter and grinned. I watched very carefully as his shaking hands opened the letter and his face lighting up into a huge grin. I smile and look at him expectantly.

 

He passes me the letter, “Can you read this-make sure I’m not dreaming…”

 

_“Dear Mr. Oliver Wood,_

_We would like to offer you a chance to try out for our reserve team this coming Saturday, March 30 th, at promptly 7am. Please send your response by March 28th so that we can make the proper preparations. We look forward to hearing from you._

_Sincerely,_

_Philbert Deverill_

_Manager of Puddlemere United”_

“OH MY GOD!” I practically screamed (earning me plenty of glares from those sitting around me), “Oliver! This is great news! You’re going to go right??”

“Thank Merlin I didn’t read this wrong….this isn’t a dream right?”

 

I leaned over and pinched him, and following his “ow” I responded, “Nope! So are you going to do it?!?”

 

“Of course I’m going to do it…I’m not a moron…” He responded, grinning like a fool.

 

He looked so happy I even reframed from adding an ‘are you sure?’ to his last statement.

 

“We need to celebrate!” I said, my grin matching his, “Tonight, meet me in the common room at 8!”

 

Alicia took this moment to join us, so I gave him a quick peck, and headed to class, grinning as I could hear Alicia screech in excitement for her best friend. I could hear some Ravenclaws muttering under their breath in annoyance, and smiled to myself.

                                                                        ***

Oliver met me promptly at 8pm and with a grin a led him towards the Quidditch Pitch. When we got to the Quidditch Pitch I reached into my magically expanded bag and pulled out a blanket, firewhiskey and some strawberry tarts.

 

“So, I thought it would be fitting to have a picnic on the Pitch, to celebrate your news and since Quidditch is probably the only reason we tolerate each other…” I said, smirking at each other.

 

“Oh, I see how it is, you just tolerate me…” he responded, “This is coming from the girl who took Fred’s bat and tried to knock me off of my broom…”

 

“Hey! In my defense, you kept throwing the quaffle at my head!” I said, rolling my eyes, “Merlin, we really did hate each other…I don’t even remember why honestly”

 

“I just remember that I was scared that you would steal my best friend…” he admitted.

 

“Alicia? As if you could ever get rid of her! She was always attached to you!” I said, laughing.

 

“Hey, I didn’t say it was a valid reason!” He replied, blushing slightly, “I was so surprised when I got to know you last year and realized you were a wild animal…”

 

“HEY!” I said, glaring, “We got on pretty well…until someone had to go and fuck it up….” I added without any venom.

 

“You know I still feel like shit about it…and besides, she kissed me, and by the time I had worked up the nerve to talk to you, you were making out with someone else…so I’d say we both fucked up…”

 

“I think that we can agree on that…let’s avoid situations like that this time around, yeah?”

 

“I think that can be managed…”

 

Deciding to change the topic I decided to ask him about his tryout on Saturday, “So, did you message Puddlemere United back?”

 

“Yes, I messaged them after charms this morning…I don’t know though, what happens if I don’t make the team?”

 

“Then you know that you gave it your best shot, and if you need to, and I doubt you will, the team and I will help you think about a potential back up,” I said, “Now, cheers to a successful future tryout!”

 

“You really are the best, you know that?” he said, smiling at me.

 

“Am I?” I said, giving him a mock clueless look.

 

He laughed at my facial expression and leaned over and kissed me. I don’t know what it was, but making out on the Quidditch Pitch seemed like a good thing to do, so I adjusted my body until I was sitting on his lap, putting my hands in his hair and deepening the kiss.

 

I felt him move his hands to my back, wrapping his arms fully around me and pulling me as close as possible. When we broke for air I felt his lips move towards my neck.

 

“Seriously” kiss, “the” suck, “best” kiss, “girlfriend” bite, “ever”, I could hear (and feel) him against my neck.

 

I pulled his face back towards mine and kissed him again, pulling back slightly saying, “I think you’re pretty great too, I guess…”

 

That earned me a pinch to waist and earned him a giggle, but it was quickly forgotten as he leaned down and kissed me again.

 

                                                                        ***

When I got back into the common room, Oliver deciding he wanted some time alone to fly, I found Percy sitting in an armchair, bent over a book.

 

“Hey there Perce,” I said, plopping down into the seat across from him.

 

“How’s it going Talls?” he asked, offering me a rare smile.

 

“Good, how about you? Are you ready for Graduation?”

 

“Yes, I think so. I’m ready to move onto new things,” he said, with a small smile.

 

“Do you know what department you want to work in yet?” I asked, knowing his goal was to work in the Ministry of Magic.

 

“I’m not entirely sure yet, maybe Law? I am interviewing with a few departments and I will see which is going to be the best fit,” he said.

 

“I’m really happy for you Percy,” I said, offering him a huge smile, “I know you will kill it at your interviews.”

 

“Thanks Talli,” he said, smiling, then turning back to his book.

 

I smiled as I got up and walked away, chuckling at the thought that that might have been one of the longer conversations I’ve had with him in a while. Upon entering my dormitory I found all the girls spread out on the floor, magazines out and a bottle of wine in the middle.

 

“You started girls night with out me?!” I asked, feigning anger.

 

“It’s not my fault you decided to make out with your boyfriend rather than be here….” Angelina responded in a singsong voice.

 

“UGHHHH” I groaned dramatically, “I hope you saved the good conversation though…”

 

“Only because we love you…”

 

“Guys, I just had sex…it wasn’t even my first time…” Katie said, shaking her head at our antics.

 

“Yes,” Angelina said, “But it is the first time you had sex with George…the boy you are madly in love with!”

 

Katie rolled her eyes at that, and we all smirked because she didn’t deny it it.

 

“Soooooo,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows, “How was it?”

 

“I mean, it was great; he really enjoyed the little number we picked out, I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head…he definitely wasn’t expecting that,” she giggled, turning pink.

 

“How well endowed is he? I’ve always been curious if twins are roughly the same size, and since Fred is endowed, I’m assuming George is too?” Alicia asked, and Katie turned even pinker.

 

“I mean, I wouldn’t say he’s not endowed…” Katie said, “But that’s all you get!”

 

“I knew it!” Alicia said, reaching over to give me a victory high five.

 

“Wait, how do you know Fred is?” Angelina asked, looking at Alicia funny.

 

“I accidently walked in on the boys changing at Quidditch…” she said.

 

“How do you accidently do that?” I asked, as we had been using the same changing rooms for the past few years.

 

“I thought it was going to be Ravenclaw in there, I was meeting with Jarod at the time, but the boys hadn’t left…” she said, shrugging.

 

“And you are just mentioning this now?!” I said, laughing at her.

 

“It didn’t seem important…”

 

We all rolled our eyes at her, in sync, causing us to go into a fit of giggles.

 

“Why, you jealous over there Angelina?”

 

Angelina rolled her eyes, “Nope. I’m mostly over it, he seems happy and I’m happy for him…”

 

“You just wish he was happy with you?” I asked.

“I don’t think it’s even that anymore honestly. Yeah, I liked him a lot, and I think the world of him, he has a lot of qualities that I want in a guy, but I’m no longer upset about the fact that he’s not dating me. I’m totally happy being his friend, and I have come to terms with the fact that that is all that we will be.”

 

“I’m so proud of you Angie!” I said, deciding to leave my opinion about how perfect they would be to myself.

 

“So, enough about me, how was your date Talli?” Angelina asked me, smirking at the spots on my neck that were starting to form (damn him for not leaving love bites in places people couldn’t see-I’d have to wear a scarf tomorrow).

 

“It was good, we had a conversation about what happened last year, I think that we are both ready to move past it…” I said.

 

“That’s great news Talli!” Alicia said, a huge grin on her face.

 

“So it’s going well?” Katie asked.

 

“Yeah, it’s going really great!” I said, “Though it’ll be difficult this summer and next year…”

 

“Do you think the two of you will stay together that long?” Angelina asked, looking at me curiously.

 

“I think so,” I said, “I really like him, and I think he really likes me, we want to make things work.”

 

“Oh, he definitely really likes you,” Alicia answered, winking at me.

 

“I’m so happy for both of you!” Angelina said, grinning at me, “Think he’s the one?!”

 

“Cool it Ang, we’ve only been dating a few weeks…” I said, rolling my eyes as she glared at me.

 

“Hey, at least being single we don’t have to figure out how everything will work out for the summer…” Alicia said, looking at Angelina.

 

“HELL YEAH! Single club for life!” Angelina said, giggling.

 

Shortly later we were looking through the pile of magazines and taking all the ridiculous quizzes. We had shifted from the wine to the firewhiskey (because why the hell not? In Alicia’s words). I was taking one on what my future career should be when I graduate; apparently I should become a bartender because I am social and fun. I was getting ready to start my next quiz (where should you move to after graduation?) when Angelina started laughing.

 

“So I took a quiz about when I would meet my future partner (cue more giggling) and apparently, I will meet them within the next few minutes, in fact (giggles) they are probably sitting in the room with you!!! Wait, that would be so sad if you were in a room alone…” Angelina rambled, then perking back up, she added, “Soooooooooo…Alicia, will you marry me?!?”

 

Angelina stumbled slightly getting down on one knee and I could hear Katie taking pictures of the scene while giggling. I was laughing so hard that I barely caught Alicia’s startled face.

 

“OF COURSE!”

 

“WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!” They shouted together, standing up, and rushing down the stairs, presumably to tell everyone else.

 

On the way down we watched as Angelina ran head first into a startled looking Fred and Alicia half fell over onto a sad looking Lee.

 

“Do we even want to know?” Fred asked, shaking his head.

 

“We’re getting married,” Angelina said, giggling.

 

“Congratulations, can I be the best man?” he asked, smiling at her.

 

“Of course!” Angelina said, nodding enthusiastically.

 

“Now that this has been determined, I think it’s time for bed…” Katie said, as we laughed and got the other two up the stairs.

                                                                      ***

The rest of the week flew by and before I knew it, it was Friday after classes and Oliver was getting ready to leave. As the team and I approached him and his friends I could see him tapping his foot to keep from pacing. When the guys saw us coming they gave him one last pat on the back for good luck and took off.

 

“Well Oliver, it is the moment we have known was coming since you replaced Charlie as Captain,” Fred said.

 

“In all honesty, you are going to kill it!” Katie said, “Honestly Oliver, they would be insane to not pick you.”

 

“Thanks guys,” He said, looking pale.

 

“Honestly Ol, you will smash it. You have been playing keeper for ages, seriously, since I was taught to fly and could throw things at you in the air. You will kill it,” Alicia said, going over and giving him a huge hug.

 

The rest of the team quickly pilled on, getting a laugh from him and a “get the fuck off of me”.

 

Once everyone had finally moved away, I rushed at him, wrapping my arms around him and telling him, “I am so proud of you. Either way you know that you gave it your best effort, and you are going to do great tomorrow.”

 

“Thanks babe,” he said, leaning down to give me a kiss.

 

“GET A ROOM!” Fred hollered and we pulled apart laughing.

 

“Are you ready to go Mr. Wood?” Professor McGonagall asked, coming out of nowhere.

 

He nodded weakly and with one last squeeze we watched as he made his way towards his future.

 

“So, we have some bad news,” George said.

 

“Please don’t tell me you wrote the letter and it’s a prank…” Alicia said, looking at them like she could kill them.

 

“WHAT?” they said in unison, “Not even we are that mean!”

 

“Just had to check…” she said, shrugging, “What’s the bad news?”

 

“Lee and Joy broke up this morning,” George said.

 

“So naturally, we need to cheer him up,” Fred said, “So meet us in your suites in the room of requirement in an hour thinking “I want to swim”.”

 

We all nodded and rushed towards the dormitories to start getting ready.

 

“Poor Lee,” Katie said, “He must be gutted…he really loved her…”

 

“I wonder what happened,” Angelina added.

 

“They have been arguing a lot recently, maybe this is for the best?” I said.

 

“Probably in the long run, but I doubt he sees it like that now…” Angelina said.

 

“Oh, he definitely doesn’t,” I said, “How much firewhiskey do we have left? Can we bring some?”

“There’s still about half a bottle, so we can bring it! Alcohol always helps me with my problems!” Alicia said, laughing slightly.

 

“I think that’s when it becomes a problem…” Katie said laughing, and we all shook our heads.

 

It took us a decent amount of time for use to find our swimsuits because they were on the very bottoms of our trunks. Needless to say our room was a disaster zone of clothes and shoes thrown everywhere. I decided on my light blue swimsuit, Alicia picked her lacy black one piece, Angelina decided on her floral yellow one and Katie went for her high waisted red [bikini](http://www.polyvore.com/ollaq_ch_21/set?id=200244781). We all tied our hair up into ponytails, through on random shorts and t-shirts and made our way towards the room of requirement.

 

Once we were in the room we saw a giant swimming pool, with a slide and a diving board. We could see Fred and George having a cannon ball contest and Lee floating around. We could see a few empty bottles of butterbeer.

 

“We brought firewhiskey!” Alicia said, and the boys cheered, Lee starting to wade towards us.

 

“How you holding in there buddy?” Katie asked when he got closed.

 

“It’s shit, but that firewhiskey will help,” he said, reaching for it.

 

“Knock yourself out,” I said, and as an after thought I added, “Though, probably not literally, that wouldn’t be a good idea in a pool.”

 

“Probably not,” he said, taking a swig and passing it back, “Now get your butts in the pool!”

 

Angelina just went right for jumping in the side, splashing all of us, getting a laugh from Lee. Katie, being the sensible one, went for the stairs, though getting right in since the water was nice and warm. Alicia went and joined the cannon ball contest, determined to beat Fred and George, where as I went right for the slide.

 

We spent about an hour and a half swimming around and splashing each other, I was glad to see Lee smiling and laughing. I took it as a sign that he would be alright, at least eventually. I knew that Fred and George would be able to cheer him up, and that he knew we were all there to listen if he wanted to talk. Looking around the room I knew that this group of friends would be there for each other through thick and thin, and I had to smile to myself, because I really couldn’t have picked better friends.

 

                                                            ***

 

**Hey All! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter because I enjoyed writing it! I decided to make a polyvore for their suites! Yes, I am aware that they are modern and not 90s, themed necessarily, but I really like the fashion right now sooooo!**

**If the hyper link didn’t work you can see the swimsuits here:** [ **http://www.polyvore.com/ollaq_ch_21/set?id=200244781** ](http://www.polyvore.com/ollaq_ch_21/set?id=200244781)

**I have a few questions for all of you, so please answer in the comments!**

**-How do you think Oliver’s Quidditch tryouts went?**

**-Do you guys enjoy the Polyvores? Do you want to see more?**

**-What did you think of the chapter?**

**-What did you think of the make out scene? More of things like that or less?**

**-Favorite all time moment from the story?**

 

**I am also considering writing another Oliver/OC story (along with this one, because I am too attached to these characters to leave it). It would definitely be different than this one, the idea just won’t leave me alone! I am wondering if anyone would be interested in reading it?**

 

**Thanks!**

 


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